


Casey V's Her

by LittleLeaf25



Category: Chuck (TV)
Genre: Angst, Cute, Deaths, F/M, Gun play, Humour, Possibly Gore, References To Terrorism, Slow Burn, mature fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:14:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21585949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleLeaf25/pseuds/LittleLeaf25
Summary: A story of how Colonel Casey meets his love interest. Oh and some shenanigans will ensue! Ha!Also, I do not own any part of the Chuck Tv show, or the actors/actresses, unfortunately!
Relationships: Chuck Bartowski/Sarah Walker, John Casey/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 9





	1. ?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ambear9](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambear9/gifts).



> Please forgive me if this is utter tripe, it's my first attempt at a 'Chuck' fanfic, but your comments would be very much appreciated! :) Thank you!

The house was dark, as he made his way across the wooden floor he tried to remember which boards squeaked and which were loose. Raising his gun he let out a sigh, his eyes trained on the door in front of him, the half-broken ceramic sign announcing the room as the ‘Bathroo’. The running water was a dead give away as to which room she was in, he could hear her hum a little as the gentle splashing of the tap water broke the surface tension. He closed his eyes for a single heartbeat before grasping the door handle, it was wet with condensation, she always ran her baths too hot in his opinion. He gently swung the non-descript cream wooden door open, a whoosh of steam rushed him leaving him momentarily blinded. She screamed, it was high pitched and told him which part of the room she was in, as the steam disappeared he could see her hunched on the floor, clutching at her knees trying to cover as much of herself up as she could. He trained the gun towards her. She let out a long shaky breath and smiled sweetly at him.

“You scared me” She began to unfold herself and bare more of her creamy white skin to him. The gun twitched in his hand, though he’d never admit it. He swallowed hard, sure that she could hear the golf ball-sized lump of air he swallowed. “Are you ok?” She cocked her head to the side making her blonde hair graze her shoulder and she took a few tentative steps towards him “John?” She questioned.

His finger gently squeezed the trigger and a single shot echoed around the bathroom. Bang. He squeezed again. She fell to the ground like a discarded ragdoll, her pretty face frozen as the gunshot wounds through her chest began to create a pool of claret around her now still form. Scrubbing his hand over his face he advanced towards the body, ever the professional he checked for a pulse. Allowing himself to brush a stray piece of hair away from her cheek he then rose and left as quietly as he came, he would think about why he didn’t shoot her in the face another time, now he needed a stiff drink and some time on his reclining chair.

He drove his beloved Crown Victoria back to Burbank and parked in his allocated bay. His legs felt heavy and he was pleased there was no-one else in the courtyard, it meant he didn’t have to make small talk which he hated at the best of times.  
He wasn’t in long before someone knocked on his door, downing the last dregs of his scotch he bared his teeth at the burn and padded barefoot to the front door. Fastening his robe he pulled the door open aggressively seeing Walkers outline through the peephole.

“What?” He let out a low growl, much like the one a wolf gave you as a warning.  
“Are you ok? You’re not answering your phone, the general’s been calling you” She said barging past him and walking to his phone on the table “Casey?” She turned and looked at him, taking in his informal attire and the door still wide open. He stood silently and stared back. “So it’s done?” She asked gently. He gave an affirmative grunt. “Casey” She softened her gaze and held her hands tightly in front of her, he wondered if it was because she was trying not to touch him, to comfort him. He almost wanted her to, he narrowed his eyes as she took a step forward. “I’m sorry Casey” She awkwardly offered taking another tentative step “I know you were close once”  
“We fucked Walker” He strode over to his chair and took up his position once again, pouring a healthy glug of scotch before turning to face her “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out” She hesitated before walking towards the door, she slowly closed it and walked away.

#

“Hey buddy” Chuck approached him in the break room, giving that winning grin of his “You wanna come to lunch with me and Morgan?”  
“Why would I do that Bartowski?” He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms making his muscles bulge slightly.  
“I just thought, we, we just thought that given your recent, you know” Chuck pulled a scrunched up face and waved his hands in front of him a little “that you might want some, friends?”  
“We. Are. Not. Friends. Bartowski” He spat through gritted teeth, banging his fist on the table “I have no idea what story Walkers been feeding you but I don’t need you, or her or the bearded troll pussyfooting around me” He stood, taking a few coins from his wallet he walked to the vending machine.  
“But you, you” Chuck hesitated “You and her, you-“  
“Me and her nothing. I carried out my job Bartowski, the same job I’ve done a hundred times before, the same job I will do a hundred times again” He opened the wrapper of his chocolate and aggressively took a bite “And the same job I will do to you when the order comes” He stomped out leaving Chuck weekly replying  
“Nice to er know, big guy”.

He didn’t make it to the heavy appliances section before he was shouted at by Big Mike. Holding in his inner anger and remembering he was nice John who worked at the buy more and not John the cold-blooded killer, he turned on his heel and marched towards the office. He noticed there was someone else there, other than Big Mike, if it was Walker, so help him, he would string her up. He noticed her shoes first as he got closer, patent navy blue, followed by pale smooth legs and a tight navy pencil skirt that cut off at the knee. Not Walker. Definitely not Walker.

“Sit down John” Big Mike pointed towards the seat next to her, he sat down and only then let himself look at her again. She smiled, it was a pretty smile, all teeth and sparkling eyes. She was petite with shoulder-length brunette hair, eyes like emeralds and a white shirt that was open enough to tease but not enough to show her assets. “This is Annabella Lawson” Casey nodded and grunted a little “She’s going to be conducting an audit of all the staff” He laughed nervously “I want you to show her around, introduce her to everyone and help her when she needs it, if she wants a drink, you get it, you hear me?”  
“That won't be necessary Mike” Hmmm, he thought, British accent “I prefer tea” She grinned at Casey. He smirked.  
It didn’t take long to go over the necessary paperwork and a few disguised threats from Big Mike to Casey before they were let loose on the shop floor. 

Looking at her list of names she flipped the page and looked up at him.  
“Who shall we start with? I assume to know all the staff, which is why you were chosen to chaperone me”  
“Chuck Bartowski,” He said, motioning for her to walk with him, they headed towards the nerd herd desk “Bartowski” He boomed “Come with us” Chuck’s eyes opened wide as he followed Casey and the unknown woman into the media room. She sat on the sofa and smiled as Chuck took the seat opposite her, Casey stood by the door like a sentinel.

“Hi Chuck, I’m Annabella” She reached her hand towards him, he tentatively took it “I’m here to conduct an audit of the staff, nothing to be scared of. Mr Casey, you may leave” She said without taking her eyes off Chuck. Casey hesitated before huffing and slamming the door behind him.  
“He’s er, he’s not having a good day” Chuck pointed towards Casey who was now stalking up and down the store passed the windows.  
“Don’t worry Chuck, I can handle him” She winked, making Chuck screw up his nose and grin.

The questions were not difficult, most of them were just about the store itself, the staff in general and any concerns he may have. It did make Chuck realise he had to get everyone to try and gain some sort of control over Lester and Jeff during this audit or it could turn out bad for all of them.  
It took Annabella almost all afternoon to get through Chuck, Ana and Skip who had sat a little too close to her. Casey had fulfilled his duty of ferrying people to and fro to speak to her. He even made her a cup of tea at one point, something he told himself would not be repeated. She left a little before 5 pm stating she will return tomorrow bright and early to continue conducting the sessions.

As Chuck and Casey made their way to Orange Orange to see Sarah they passed Pantelli’s coffee shop and saw Annabella in the window reading.  
“Hey, Casey, let’s see if she’s ok?” Chuck began to change direction, a large hand grabbed the back of his shirt and hauled him towards the frozen yoghurt shop where he was unceremoniously shoved through the door.  
“She’s a civilian numbnuts. The last thing we need is her sniffing around”  
“I didn’t flash on her though” He quietly protested before giving Sarah a kiss on the cheek, they had been an official couple for a little over a month now and were all still getting used to the shift in circumstances.  
“Flash on who?” She asked looking at Casey.  
“Just some HR bimbo come to audit the staff at Buy More” Casey said nonchalantly.

#

“Bartowski, get off me” Casey pushed Chuck towards the stairs “What the hell are you doing?” Chuck crashed into the bannister and made a comical ‘oof’ noise.  
“Stop it” Sarah chided, she sometimes felt like a referee between them but Casey’s pettiness was really beginning to get on her nerves today “Chuck you go behind Casey and in front of me, it’s the safest place for you” She smiled as he complied, they moved silently up the stairs and waiting for them at the top was a bunch of bad guys as there always was on missions. This one was to recover an intelligence chip that Chuck had flashed on when someone came into the Buy More and had it attached to his keyring. Luckily no-one from team Bartowski was hurt but the same could not be said for the other people, who were now laying in various states of gore all over the apartment.  
“Working out some tension there Big Guy” Chuck stated. It wasn’t really a question, it was obvious to all involved he had taken his recent solo mission a little hard. 

Casey responded with another trademark grunt and made his way towards the car.  
“Is he ok?” Chuck asked Sarah who placed her hand in his and smiled.  
“Yeah, we all have tough assignments Chuck”

#

It was the beeping noise that woke him up, Casey sat bolt upright, realising he had fallen asleep on his recliner. His computer screen flashed, he fumbled for the remote to answer the call while hiding the half-empty bottle of Scotch and glass.  
“Colonel Casey” The little red haired woman filled the screen, her lips pursed and her arms crossed.  
“Ma’am,” He said standing up straight and really, really wishing he hadn’t fallen asleep in his pyjamas.  
“I expected to have your report by now, is there a reason for your delay?” She raised an eyebrow, it always made him feel like a schoolboy being hauled into the office when she did that.  
“No Ma’am. I will have it done by the morning”  
“Be sure you do” She terminated the call, leaving the NSA logo filling the screen. 

Realising he couldn’t put it off any longer he sat at the table and opened the file. There staring straight back at him was Rea, his stomach lurched a little, he never even got to ask her why she went rogue. Orders are orders and like a good little soldier, he had carried them put unquestioningly.  
It wasn’t the most articulate report he had ever written but it wasn’t exactly the most eventful termination either, in and out, so to speak. He sent it via encrypted email to General Beckman and hoped he wouldn’t have to do any more that evening, all he wanted to do was sleep. He gathered his bits together and began his ascent of the stairs when the doorbell rang, swearing under his breath he thought about ignoring it. It rang again.  
Looking through the keyhole he could see Ellie Woodcomb on the other side, holding something. He carefully opened the door a little and peaked out.

“Mrs Woodcomb?” He greeted her, he always had a soft spot for Ellie.  
“Oh John, I’m so pleased you’re still awake, Chuck said you were feeling sad and when I’m sad I always feel better after a nice peach cobbler” She paused to thrust a pot towards him “Here, warm it up in the oven, it makes it taste better than the microwave, feel better John” She waited for him to take the pot before she swung round to go back to her own apartment, ponytail swinging.  
“Thanks” He called a little dumbfounded, she simply waved her reply. Why the hell was everyone treating him like a damn pansy? He had to put a stop to this. Colonel John Casey was not a pansy.

#

“Lester Patel please?” Annabella looked up at Casey smiling. He nodded, inwardly cringing, there was no way he was leaving her alone with that creep. He pushed Lester through the door of the home theatre room and told him to sit. He stood by the door with his arms crossed “Mr Casey?” She questioned.  
“Staying,” He said firmly.  
“Ok, is that ok with you Mr Patel?” Lester looked at Casey who scowled at him and quickly nodded “Ok Mr Casey you may stay” Turning her attention back to Lester she crossed her legs, stretching the pencil skirt taught across her thighs and increasing the small split up the slide, he all but moaned making Casey take a step towards them. Annabella didn’t seem to notice and carried on conducting her interview.

“You know Mr Casey-“ She began when they were once again alone.  
“Casey. Just Casey” He interrupted  
“-Sorry, Casey, I have handled my fair share of creeps, no need to worry about me” Stacking the paperwork she didn’t give him the chance to reply before asking to see Jeff. If she thought he was leaving the room she was sorely mistaken, no women deserved that. Even annoying British women.  
Surprisingly, they made it through the hour-long interview with minor interferences by Jeff, she handled it well and even counteracted his comments at times, Casey’s personal favourite being when Jeff asked if she had ever seen a real man naked, at this point there was a very real risk that he would remove his clothes if she said no, but she very calmly replied “Yes, thank you. Besides if I really wanted to see a real man there’s one in the corner Mr Barnes but I appreciate your concern” She pointed her pen at Casey not taking her eyes off Jeff, challenging him to push her further. He gave a creepy grin and allowed her to continue with the interview.

“Casey I must apologise for my earlier comment, it was very unprofessional of me” She stood up and adjusted her polka dot skirt as Morgan opened the door.  
“Someone here to see you Miss Lawson” He grinned beckoning her. She didn’t look at Casey as she passed him. She embraced the man at the nerd herd desk and kissed him on the cheek. The brown-haired man was almost as tall as Casey, dressed in a smart grey suit and far to much hair gel. He placed his hand on her lower back as he guided her out of the Buy More front doors.

“Casey. Casey. Casey” He could hear Chuck before he saw his gangly frame come in to view “Casey” He panted, resting his hands on his knees in an attempt to catch his breath “Bad guy. Really bad guy. The worst” Casey immediately stood up straight and balled his hands up at his sides.  
“Where Bartowski?” He scanned the crowd in the shop.  
“With Annabella, he left with Annabella”.  
It only took a few minutes before they had gathered Sarah and Morgan and were stood around the table in Castle while chuck described his flash. They all stood uncomfortably for a minute before Sarah spoke.  
“We should tell the General what you saw Chuck, we need to take direction on this” Casey was already setting up the video link.  
“Team Bartowski” She greeted them, lacing her fingers together and placing them on the desk  
“General” Casey began but was quickly interrupted by an over-enthusiastic Chuck.  
“There’s a really really bad man here General, in the Buy more, well technically not in the Buy More now but he was and he will definitely be back later and-“  
“Bartowski!” Casey chided and Chuck closed his mouth, looking sheepish “Chuck flashed, the woman doing an audit of the staff here met with someone and Chuck flashed on him”  
“But not her?” The General questioned.  
Casey shook his head “No, she’s not in there Ma’am, but it is coincidental that she shows up to audit the staff just when he is in town”  
“Stop being cryptic and get to the point Colonel” She was beginning to get irritated.  
“Yes Ma’am, we believe the man could be Cuervo”  
“But no-one's ever seen him, Colonel, how can you be sure?”  
“Chuck saw a tiny scar on his left hand, it’s the only picture we have and if the intersect is up to date on him we need to move in and get him now General before he launches any chemical attacks here. We don’t want a repeat of China Ma’am” He cracked his knuckles.  
“Ok, I will send you all the files we have on Cuervo, you have full use of whatever resources you require Colonel, I shall put your black ops team on standby. I hope for all our sakes you are wrong Mr Bartowski” The screen once again showed the NSA logo and the General was gone.

Casey had to head back upstairs to greet Annabella but Chuck and Sarah were able to spend some time in the afternoon gathering intelligence on the situation. Casey decided to enquire casually about the man Annabella met, she still wasn’t meeting his eye after her comment with Jeff. They had just seen Morgan out of the door and she was writing up notes, he noticed the way she rolled the end of the pen across her lip as she thought. He sat on the opposite sofa.

“Nice lunch?” He enquired.  
“Huh?” She said looking up and him and only then realising how close he was.  
“You met someone for lunch, was it nice?”  
“Oh. Yes. Thank you” She looked back down at the paperwork.  
“Boyfriend?”  
“I’m sorry?” She stared at him wide-eyed.  
“The guy. Was he your boyfriend?”  
“Why does that matter, Mr Casey?” She narrowed her eyes at him and tapped the pen against her lips.  
“Doesn’t” He backtracked “Just making conversation.”  
The door flew open and Chuck stuck his head in “Er, need to see you Big Guy” He grinned. Casey wordlessly stood up and followed Chuck out of the room, she could see their conversation, it was interesting how animated Chuck was, it was a stark contrast to that of Casey, who stood very still indeed. Too still. She wondered where he gained his poise, probably the military of some kind she mused carrying on with the paperwork.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go again! :) Hope you are all enjoying it so far?

Annabella was in the car with her mystery man, he had promised her a walk along the beach after work.  
“Did you have a productive day angel?” He asked, she was used to his accent now, sometimes she found Spanish accents little hard to understand. She wanted to tell him all about her day but she was under strict Buy More rules of confidentiality so she chose to simply nod in reply “Did you find anything interesting?” He took her hand and kissed it as he drove into the carpark of the beach. She shook her head. “Aww Mi Amor, you must have found something out si?”  
“Why are you so interested in these people Caleb?” They extracted themselves from the car and he took her hand as they began to walk along the beach   
“I like to know who my woman is talking with” He smiled  
“Don’t call me that” She said  
He put his hands up in a surrendering pose “What shall I call you? My lady? My girl?” He teased.  
“Annabella” She stated plainly, shrugging her shoulders.  
“Annabella! Annabella! Everyone calls you Annabella. I want to call you something that’s just for me” He stopped her and snaked his arms around her waist, burying his face in her neck and blew a raspberry making her giggle and throw her head back. He began to tickle her until she broke free of his grip and began to run down the promenade, her hair flapped around her shoulders and her tight skirt and high heels made it hard to run, he gave chase which made her scream with laughter.

“Idiot” Casey ground out.  
“I think it’s cute,” Chuck said from beside him in the back of the surveillance SUV parked on the other side of the carpark.  
They looked on as he caught her and swung her around before pulling her close and kissing her deeply. It wasn’t long before they were holding hands and walking along the beach again. They watched them have dinner and leave, they watched him drop her off at her apartment, kissing her goodnight and smacking her rear as she walked away.  
They decided not to follow him, instead they waited to see which apartment she went into, at least Sarah could go in, in the day time tomorrow and plant surveillance equipment, if he said anything damming it would be handy to have it on video.

#

It had been a busy day for team Bartowski, they planted surveillance in her apartment, bugged her mobile phone and planted a GPS tracking system in her watch, which was difficult but she soon removed it when Morgan ‘accidently’ spilt his grape soda over her arm.

“Are you ready for your interview Casey?” Annabella smiled at him as they walked into the home theatre room, which she had commandeered as her temporary office. He pulled his eyes up from where they had been watching the material of her green summer dress caress the back of her knees as she walked.  
He coughed “Sure”. She sat down and got her notepad out, he took the sofa to the side of her and sat upright with his hands on his knees, she snickered.  
“Don’t be so unsure, you’ve seen me do this almost 20 times, besides, you are the least of my concerns staff wise” He simply nodded in reply “So you’ve been here around 2 years, what did you do before this” Again she looked at her paperwork and not at him, he answered with his well-rehearsed, not a lie, but omitting parts of the truth.  
“US Marines”  
“Ok” Although her face gave nothing away, she was secretly pleased to be right, he did have a military background “Would you say that staff members each pull their weight?”  
He grunted, causing her to grin around the top of her pen which was once again planted on her lips, “I’ll put mostly”

Casey managed to answer the questions without giving too much away or dropping anyone in trouble, no matter how much he would have liked to.  
“You don’t give a lot away do you?” She cocked her head to the side and squinted a little, again he grunted, causing her to laugh “Thank you for looking after me this week Casey I really appreciate it”  
“Sure. Did you and your, er, boyfriend have a nice time here in Burbank?”  
“That obvious I’m not local huh?” He smirked at her as she tidied her papers and put them into her bag.  
“The accent gave you away”  
“Yes, we had a lovely time, we are both here for work, I’m due to return to the UK next week and he will return the week after” She really wasn’t sure why she was telling him all this personal information but there was something about him, she couldn’t put her finger on it yet though. Something almost a little sad. “Want to come and help me make Mike squirm?” She winked as she stood up, he gave a small but genuine smile and held the door open for her.

They had a bit of fun with Mike and enjoyed watching him sweat a little before Annabella shook his hand and said she would be in touch once her report was completed.  
“I’ll walk you out” Casey offered.  
“It’s ok, we can say goodbye here, my boyfriend will be outside, he’s a little possessive” She smiled, it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Casey nodded and held out his hand, she shook it and thanked him for chaperoning her. Her handshake was firmer than he was expecting, he liked a woman with a good strong handshake, a picture of Rea flashed in his mind as he turned away. She had almost made it to the door before she heard her name being called, turning round she waved as she saw Chuck approaching.  
“Miss Lawson, sorry, glad I caught you” Chuck flapped around and gave her a goofy grin “My girlfriend works in Orange Orange across the street, she wanted to give you a free scoop, here” He passed her a voucher.  
“Bribery Mr Bartowski?” She raised her eyebrows pointedly  
“Oh,” His face froze in horror “Oh God no, no, sorry, it’s ah, it’s” She giggled and put her hand on his arm.  
“Calm down Chuck I’m teasing you. Thank you” She called exiting the store.

#

“Hola baby,” Caleb said kissing Annabella’s cheek.  
“Not my name” She grinned, he took a seat on the couch in her hotel room while she got changed, both unaware that Casey was listening in to their conversation. “I thought you were meeting me outside the Buy More? What happened?” He had texted to rearrange the plans and stated that he would meet her back here.  
“Uh” He threw his hand up “Is the idiots in the bank, they cannot get one simple thing right, I had to go and sort it out person to person”  
“Coffee?” He nodded “Did you get it sorted?” He nodded again “Good, I was thinking of going to the beach tomorrow, I need to write my reports and the beach seems like a nice place to do it, what do you think? She walked over and handed him a steaming cup of coffee. She sat next to him on the sofa, his tan chino’s felt soft against her bare leg.  
“No Chula, I have meetings all day. You can come with me if you like? Keep me company?”  
“No thanks,” She scoffed “Why would I sit in boring meetings all day when I can be surrounded by sun, sea and sand?” She laughed.  
“Because you love me?” He stuck out his bottom lip making her laugh harder.  
“Don’t push it mate!”

Casey took off the headphones, he was getting frustrated with the lack of information, he had been listening to them for a solid hour and all he had learned is that she hates nicknames and he has a meeting somewhere tomorrow about something. At this point, they didn’t even have a name for him, bar ‘Cuervo’ that is. He hatched a plan with Sarah to have her tail Cuervo and he would tail Annabella tomorrow, Chuck was to remain in the Buy More with Morgan and look for suspicious activity there.

Chuck: I really think I should help either you or Sarah tomorrow.

Casey: Don’t need help.

Chuck: What about the intersect?  
Chuck: What if I flash on someone else he meets?  
Chuck: Could be helpful?

Casey: Fine.

Chuck: Great! So I’ll go with Sarah then.

Casey: Stay in the car Bartowski.

Chuck was glad Casey couldn’t see the incredulous face he pulled, he was sure it would not have ended well.

#

After kissing Caleb goodbye Annabella took a cab to the beach, it was a bright and sunny morning. She chose a spot near some rocks so she could lean against them. Her tartan blanket was spread out across the sand and her pens and paper were scattered across it, she hummed gently to herself as she leant against the grey rocks. They were already warmed by the morning sun and made her smile. Casey situated himself on a bench near the coffee shack, far enough away that she wouldn’t notice him, but close enough to not lose track of her. He pulled his phone out of his navy blue tailored shorts pocket and wiped the screen down his light blue, short-sleeved shirt.

Casey: Status?

Sarah: He’s in an antique shop. I’m going in.

Casey: Keep Bartowski on a lead.

He put his phone away, noticing a tall blonde man approach Annabella he shifted on the seat to get a better view.

“John?” A female voice interrupted his concentration “I thought it was you. How are you?” The older lady in a grey floral dress sat down next to him, her white hair blowing in the sea breeze. He grunted, trying to keep one eye on Annabella and one eye on the interrupter.  
“Joan” He nodded and gave a sad smile “Good. You?” He didn’t really want to ask her, he wanted to tell her to move or she was going to ruin everything, but he never could be rude to her.  
“Getting there, after the loss of Rea” She sighed and put her hand on his arm “But you know all about that dear” He gave what he hoped was a sympathetic grunt. “It was just so sudden” She continued, he really wanted her to leave. Now. No time for stupid chit chat. He glanced over at Annabella, she was reading her paperwork again, no sign of the blonde dude-bro “A home invasion” She shook her head “We hoped to see you at the funeral John”  
“I, er, I” It wasn’t often that Colonel John Casey was at a loss for words.  
“I imagine it was just too hard for you, you poor dear. You know you are always welcome at our place, Bob and I would love to see you” She began to smile and reached into her bag, she produced a photo “This was taken at the 4thof July BBQ we had a couple of months before Rea died, you remember?” More grinning, this time reaching her eyes “The one where you threw her in the pool fully clothed. Oh! She was so mad” She thrust the photo into his hand.  
“I remember,” He said looking down at the photo, Rea was reclining on a lawn chair, grinning, still soaking wet from the pool incident.  
“She loved you very much John” It took him by surprise, his eyes widened and he felt nauseated. He was about to answer, but glanced towards the rocks again, seeing the blanket and the paperwork but not the woman. His eyes quickly scanned the beach, she was nowhere to be found. He shot to his feet grabbing the photo and stuffing it into his pocket, he bent and quickly kissed the older woman on the cheek before turning to say  
“Sorry Joan, I need to go. Was lovely seeing you”   
She called after him but he simply raised his hand to wave as he stalked along the beach, sand sneaking into his shoes and making his socks feel crusty. He was almost at the blanket when he heard another familiar voice.

“Casey?” He gritted his teeth and turned around slowly “Are you looking for someone?” She grinned at him, holding her iced tea slightly away from her body as it dripped condensation from the rapidly melting ice cubes reacting to the almost too warm day.  
“No. Just going to a walk” He balled his hands up by his sides, knowing full well he sounded stupid.  
“A really angry, feet stomping kind of walk?” She laughed “If you’re not busy you can join me if you like?”  
He nodded and followed her to the tartan blanket, he sat down being careful not to mess up any of her paperwork.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this chapter, real life took over! Let me know what you think? ;)

“You have the blueprints si?” Caleb ran his hand through his hair as he approached the young man behind the counter. He was covered in tattoos, most of which just seemed to be random doodles. His eyes were heavy-lidded as he shouted,  
“Grandpa? Customer” After a small amount of shuffling an old man, probably in his 80’s approached the counter, he had a jewellery magnifying glass around his neck and the chain of a pocket watch hanging out of his waistcoat.  
“Mr Medina” He smiled as the bell above the door tinkled, all 3 men turned to see the leggy blonde sweep in through the doorway, her tight black skirt and red crop top were quite distracting. She smiled politely and began to look at all the artefacts and junk around the crowded little shop.  
“Hola” Caleb greeted him “You have my blueprints Si?” His face was towards the old man but his eyes were focusing on the lady now almost beside him.  
“Yes. Yes” He placed 2 rolled-up sheets of paper on the counter and began to take the elastic band off.  
“No need senor, I shall take it like that” Caleb placed his hand over the band to stop it coming undone, although taken back he simply nodded and began to ring it up through the till.

Sarah had picked up a necklace with a gold filigree heart pendant on it, she held it up in front of her and grinned at the young man.  
“How much is this?” She asked, cocking her head slightly to the side. Clearing his throat loudly and leaning on the counter he replied,  
“Hundred bucks” She shook her head and put it back on the display stand, as she turned she caught Caleb’s eye. He was just paying for the blueprints.  
“Have we met?” She asked taking a few steps closer.  
“No, I’m sure I would remember a pretty face like yours” He winked, taking the blueprints into his hands “But” He continued “I would like to know your name?”  
“Salma” She gave him her hand to kiss, keeping her name close to Sarah seemed like a good idea, in-case there were any slip-ups. He seemed impressed with her Spanish name, naturally, she told him her grandparents were Spanish. They spoke for a few more minutes and he invited her for a cup of coffee, the young man serving her sat back in the chair with his arms folded, unimpressed by Caleb’s confidence.

#

“So what brings you to the beach for an angry stompy walk?” Annabella sat cross-legged on the blanket looking up at Casey.  
“Work,” He said, still trying to keep a visual on Joan, who it seemed was very slowly leaving the bench.  
“Can I help with anything? It is my job” She took a sip of the drink through the straw, he was momentarily distracted by the way she pursed her pretty pink lips.  
“No. Thank you” He shuffled his feet.  
“Take your shoes off” She stated, he looked at her wide-eyed “If you have sand in your shoes, take them off” She giggled as he emptied his shoes of sand and removed his socks. She put her drink down and gathered up her paperwork into a neat pile “As you wont let me help you, you can make yourself useful and help me” She thrust him a pile of paperwork “Pop these in date order for me please” He just nodded and scanned the top form.  
“Performance reviews?”  
“Umm-hmm” She was too busy rooting through her handbag to take much notice.  
“Why are some names starred?” She looked up and moved some hair from her face.  
“Usually people are starred if there is something I need to return to discuss or if they pose a significant threat to sales”  
“My name's starred”  
“Yes” She flushed a little, he thought it made her look even prettier “Well, you are-“  
“-John?” An older lady cut her off “Who’s your friend?” She didn’t seem very pleased, her lips were pursed and her eyes narrow.  
“Fuck” He said under his breath “Joan this is Annabella, we work together”  
“Nice to meet you” Annabella held out her hand, Joan ignored both the hand and the voice.  
“You look quite cosy” She clutched her handbag and shook her head “Rea’s only been gone a month John” She turned to leave, Casey looked guiltily to Annabella, picked up his shoes and followed Joan back across the beach. She couldn’t hear what was being said but the conversation looked serious.

#

The café was busy, it was almost lunchtime and people were filtering in around them. Caleb purposely chose a table near the back. He pulled a chair out for Sarah, and offered to take her coat, she respectfully declined, not wanting him to find the Smith and Wesson in the right-hand pocket.  
“What do you do for a living Salma?” He asked, flashing her a toothy smile.  
“I work in retail, orange orange, you know, the frozen yoghurt shop?”  
He shook his head making a tutting noise “Pretty girls like you should not work in retail” She raised a questioning eyebrow “You should be out doing something fun, like photography or something”  
“I’m saving up to open my own beauty salon, beauty school was so expensive, I need to work in the yoghurt shop until I’ve paid my student debts off” She twiddled a lock of blonde hair around her finger.  
She kept up the persona of Salma the beauty therapist, all the while trying to trap him into seeing her again, she didn’t ask about the blueprints as it seemed too obvious. As they left the café, Caleb pointed down a side road.  
“My car is this way” He looked at her “But, I would really like to see you again” He placed his hands on either side of her face and gently kissed her. It was much gentler than she imagined he would be, she was expecting all teeth and tongue but this wasn’t actually unpleasant. After they had swapped numbers she felt a little guilty for Annabella, but the job came first.  
Caleb was still texting Sarah when she arrived back at Castle.

Caleb: How about Saturday?  
Sarah: I’m working in the day but the evening will be fine.  
Caleb: Will pick you up at 8. Text your address.

Sarah blew out a breath as she descended down the stairs. Chuck flew over to her flapping his arms.  
“What the hell Sarah?”  
“Chuck” She held up a hand to stop him, unfortunately, it didn’t work.  
“You were only supposed to pop into the shop, a text saying to go back to Castle and wait is not enough information. What the hell happened?”  
“Is Casey here?” Chuck pointed towards the armoury “Come with me, Chuck”

They walked over to find Casey who was busy cleaning one of his guns and muttering under his breath.  
“Casey?” He looked up sharply, growled a little and carried on with his cleaning.  
Chuck whispered “He’s been like this since he got back just after lunch”  
“I’ve got a way in. Cuervo asked me for a coffee and I said yes. He’s taking me out on a date tomorrow night”  
“What about Annabella?” He grumbled, she shrugged.  
“Collateral damage”

After taking down a yammering Chuck and convincing Casey that it was a good idea for her to ‘date’ Cuervo she told them about the blueprints.  
“Where are they for?” Chuck asked  
“Don’t know yet but I’m sure I can get it out of him. He’s picking me up from a building a block from my apartment tomorrow night. Casey, you can take the night shift tonight. Chuck, we have dinner at Ellie and Awesome’s to get to”

#

Casey had been sat listening to the conversation between Annabella and Caleb for the last 2 hours, he wanted to pull his own ears off. Leaning forward onto the desk in his apartment he opened his emails, an encrypted one from the General was waiting for him. He opened it and a large picture of Rea popped up on the screen with ‘Terminated’ printed across it. A lump caught in his throat, he remembered that picture being taken, it was when she received her promotion to field agent, about 2 years ago. He remembered her saying that they could finally work together as equals, after being his trainee for so long. He gave her his best ‘you wish’ growl. They had been sleeping together for most of her training and for most of the time afterwards. He told himself, and her on many occasions that they were just releasing stress and it didn’t mean anything. But his final orders to get close to her, which he had for the last 6 months were the hardest he’d ever had. Real emotion mixed with duty was not his idea of fun, hell he didn’t do real emotion at the best of times. Tuning back into the conversation he deleted the email. And her.

“Where are you going tomorrow night? Somewhere fun?” He could hear Annabella talking, he switched on the cameras, she was in the kitchen cooking and he was on the couch in the lounge area.  
“Nowhere” He answered taking a swig of his beer “Just out with some boys” She snickered  
“The boys, not some boys” Grinning she stirred the pot on the stove.  
“The boys” He shouted back. Casey narrowed his eyes, the way he so easily lied to her made him think it wasn’t the first time. And her relaxed posture made him realise she didn’t know he was lying.  
“Are you eating with them or shall I do you dinner?” She began to dish up the contents of the pan into 2 bowls.  
“Eat out” He was still on his phone, probably texting Sarah, Casey thought.  
“Come and sit at the table Caleb, it’s ready”  
“Ah! Chula!” He kissed her on the cheek before taking his seat opposite her “You spoil me eh?”

They continued to chat about inane things for a while which Casey almost tuned out of until he heard his name.  
“Yeah, and it was Casey from the Buy More”  
“The guy in the green shirt?” Caleb spoke with his mouth full  
“Yeah” She smiled “but he didn’t sit with me for long, his Grandma or someone called him away”  
“Did he say anything interesting?”  
“Like what? The guy barely speaks Caleb, he communicates in grunts and growls”

Interesting. Casey noticed her cheeks flush a little, Caleb hadn’t seen that, why would her cheeks flush like that? What was Casey missing here?

He removed the earphones and turned the camera off when they went to bed. He still had text alerts on his phone to notify him if one or both of them left the bedroom. The joy of motion detectors.  
His phone buzzed at around 1 am, he opened the camera app and watched Annabella walk across the room to the kitchen. He sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, forcing them to focus on the small screen. He could see she was wearing a small nightdress through the night vision camera and could make out the swell of her breasts quite clearly as she lifted her head up to drain the last few dregs of the glass. He should stop watching, it was just her getting a drink, no threat detected. Except he didn’t stop. He didn’t want to. She yawned and stretched a little before padding back into the bedroom and shutting the door. 

“No time to analyse it soldier” He muttered as he put his phone back and slid back down under the covers.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it took ages to update this, I was distracted by Christmas lights! Let me know if you are enjoying this by leaving kudos or comment, please. Thank you!

After almost two weeks of watching and listening Casey was no closer to finding out any information, least of which was why neither of them had left as planned. Caleb had continued to meet Sarah behind Annabella’s back, Chuck was still freaked out by it and Beckman was annoyed it was taking so long. She had warned she would push things along a little, but in what capacity they were all unsure until Annabella walked back through the Buy More doors. Her blue spotted dress and pink shoes made her stand out, it swished gently when the rush of air blew against her from the doors opening. Casey could have sworn he saw it all in slow motion, that is until he noticed Jeff and Lester fast approaching her. Lester rubbed his hand down the front of his tie to straighten it while Jeff licked his fingers and smoothed down his eyebrows. Chuck made a gagging noise next to Casey.

“What’s she doing back here?” Casey asked loudly, Chuck furrowed his brow and shrugged “Sort that out before the idiot brothers contaminate her” Chuck saluted and advanced towards her. She greeted him with a smile and a hug, which he was pretty sure was just a ploy to get away from Jeff and Lester.  
“It’s nice to see you Chuck” She beamed “Is Mike around?”  
He showed her to Big Mike’s office and had walked a few steps past the home theatre room when a giant hand reached out through the open door and manhandled him inside.  
“What the hell Casey?” Chuck looked annoyed, it added to Casey’s pleasure.  
“What did she say?”  
“About you?” Chuck raised his eyebrows and grinned  
“No, idiot” He smacked him in the back of the head “about why she’s here?”  
“Oh that, she kind of works here now” Casey growled a little in reply.

#

“Thanks again for coming back Miss Lawson” Big Mike shook her hand vigorously “We’re real pleased to have you as part of the team”  
“No problem Mike, and call me Annabella” She made her way over to where Chuck and Casey were standing. “Gentlemen” She nodded as she greeted them “Care to give a damsel in distress a little hand?” She placed her hands on her hips and bent one knee causing the other hip to raise. They both nodded and followed her into the break room. Big Mike had been kind enough to offer her the small cupboard office just off the break room, it was dusty and full of junk, but Casey and Chuck helped her relocate it all. She cleaned it on her own and left the store for a little while. They took their chance and ran over to Orange Orange. Casey grabbed a teenager by the scruff of the neck and sent him flying out the door so team Bartowski could talk alone.  
They filled her in on Annabella’s new position at the Buy More, which was difficult as they didn’t exactly know what her position was.  
“And then, Casey and I helped clear the room, it was so odd” Chuck fiddled with the mustard stain on his tie “I can't decide if this is Beckman or Cuervo's doing?” he carried on muttering to himself while Sarah and Casey made a plan to speak to the General, Sarah would continue to date Cuervo.  
“But it’s not right” Chuck complained “She doesn’t deserve to be hurt” Casey grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the Buy More “ow, ow, ow”  
“And she doesn’t deserve to be blown up either, as Walker said, in this she’s collateral damage” Even he cringed at the words, internally, of course.  
It was a little after 3 pm when she returned, except she wasn’t alone, Cuervo was with her, he kissed her goodbye as she went back into the break room and walked across to the Orange Orange.  
“Scumbag” Chuck huffed, he turned around and Casey was gone.

“Find everything you needed?” He leant against the door frame with his arms folded.  
“Yes thank you” She answered, without turning around, she continued to fiddle with the paperwork on her desk  
“So what’s the plan?”  
“Excuse me?” She turned around, eyes immediately focusing on the way Casey’s arm muscles bulged in his green shirt “The, er, what?” She still hadn’t reached his eyes, he smirked.  
“The plan? What are you doing back at this fine establishment?” He took a step towards her, she fiddled with her necklace. The room was very small and he was blocking the only exit. She blinked slowly, keeping her eyes shut for a beat longer than necessary before looking up at him.  
“Monitor staff performance until it improves” She swallowed audibly.  
“All staff?” He sat on the edge of her desk, she placed a hand over her chest and nodded “Well, let me know if I can help?” He winked and left the room, he heard her clear her throat before she began to fiddle with her papers.  
The afternoon had gone slowly and Chuck and Morgan were in the middle of their third game of cards when Morgan spoke: “Dude, look at the size of that guy, reckon he would win in a fight against Casey?” Chuck looked up, his head fell back a little and his eyes gently flickered. He jumped up from the desk, scattering cards all over Morgan and ran towards where Casey was stacking a shelf. “Hey!” Morgan exclaimed “Not cool. Don't ask him, that’s cheating Chuck!” Rolling his eyes he picked up the cards.  
Annabella came out of the break room and made her way over to where the tall, well-built man was now standing, narrowly avoiding a collision with Chuck as she did. She reached up and hugged him, he smiled at her, they chatted a little before she left with him.  
“Casey. Casey. Casey. The guy, he’s, he’s an international arms dealer. Over there. With Annabella”  
Casey swung round in time to see them leave, he grabbed the front of Chuck’s shirt and pulled him close “And you let her leave with him?”  
“Hey. What was I supposed to do Casey? He’s built like a house”  
He shoved Chuck away and took off towards the door, he got out in time to see them heading towards the car park, he watched them get into a black Sudan and memorised the licence plate.  
Team Bartowski met shortly afterwards in Castle, they ran the plate and found his name.

“Idiot used his real name, Soloman Penner” Casey sneered pulling out his phone, Chuck looked at the small group of flashing lights on the map huddled together and one that was further away.  
“Casey? Do you have tracking devices on all of us?” He just grunted his reply “Dude you have a serious control problem”  
“Tell me something I don't know Bartowski”  
It didn't take long before they decided on a plan. Sarah and Chuck went back to her apartment, she needed to prepare for her date with Cuervo. Casey sat in his recliner, snacking on a tin of tuna, with his headphones on watching and listening to Anabella’s apartment. She had taken the big guy back to her apartment and they chatted like old friends, interestingly though, Casey realised she didn't call him by his real name.  
“Caleb’s really sorry he can't make it tonight tank, he’s got a meeting with some business associates” Annabella smiled, passing him a cup of hot tea.  
“Thanks” His voice was deep and had a slight accent “It’s ok, I like to hang out with you also”   
“Ugh. Russian” Casey huffed before taking another mouthful of tuna.

#

Sarah was wearing a red dress that hugged her body in all the right places, she flicked her blonde hair and smiled with cherry red lips as she approached Cuervo’s table, he stood, grinning as she hugged him.  
“Ah. My dear, you look beautiful, but there is something missing” he wagged his finger in her direction, she felt her face drop with disappointment. He grinned again and pulled something from his pocket. The gold chain fell delicately from his fingers with the weight of the filigree heart pendant pulling on it, he let it swing a few times before motioning for Sarah to stand up. She turned her back to him, he delicately ran his fingers across her collarbone before securing the necklace around her neck, she shivered, turning in his arms she whispered “You remembered”  
His reply was softly spoken “Nunca olvido algo tan hermoso”  
(translation - I never forget something so beautiful)  
“What does that mean” She took her seat opposite him again.  
“You don't speak Spanish no?” He laced his fingers together and laid them on the table, she shook her head shyly and fiddled with a piece of her hair. He didn't need to know that she understood perfectly what he said, she could speak 7 languages “I said, '' You are beautiful” He winked. The waiter approached before she could reply.

#

“Dad?” Alex called, he didn't hear her so she walked towards the lounge area, Casey was there, always at the ready, she came face to face with the barrel of his favourite gun “Dad!” She screamed, he immediately lowered the gun and looked guilty, he ripped the headphones off, dropping them on the arm of his chair.  
“Alex. What are you doing here?”  
“It’s nice to see you too” She patted his arm “Such a warm welcome as always” He rolled his eyes “Morgan and I went out for Chinese and decided to bring you some back, I’ll pop it in the fridge and you can reheat it later”  
“Thanks” He remained stood by his chair while Alex fiddled about in the kitchen “So, what’s the real reason you’re here Alex? Not that I don’t like you popping over but why now?”  
“Ok, don't be mad” He growled and slumped into his chair, his dressing gown flapped open a little to reveal his knee, Alex skipped over to him and sat on the coffee table so she could face him, “Morgan and I thought it was about time you got back out there, after, you know” She waved her arms as if that explained everything, he raised an eyebrow “after Rea” She lowered her voice a little as though saying her name was a bad thing. For a second Casey’s eyes closed as a memory of her flickered across his eyelids “So” She continued “We’ve set you up on a blind date!” She grinned, reaching for his hand “Don’t freak out Dad, she’s really sweet, and, and she works really hard, and she’s really pretty” Alex began to speak faster and faster in an attempt to get everything she wanted to get out before he interrupted her.  
“Alex” She knew when he spoke through his teeth it never ended well “I do not need you and the bearded troll setting me up with anyone, do you understand?” He stood and loomed over her “Repeat it, Alex”  
“I understand,” She said quietly. Then smiling she also stood “Morgan said there’s a new lady at the Buy More that seems nice?”  
“And has a boyfriend”  
“Dad won't you just try, we all want you to be happy, even Chuck thinks you will like this woman” He placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her towards the door.  
“So Bartowski’s in on it too? Good to know” He opened the door and bent down to kiss her cheek “Thank you for the Chinese”  
“Erm Dad?” She shuffled her feet a little “She’s sort of here” Alex pointed to a blonde woman stood next to the fountain in the courtyard. She was tall and curvy, she cast a striking silhouette he had to admit, he wrapped his dressing gown tighter around himself. She was attractive. Very attractive. She waved a little before he shoved Alex through the door and slammed it. He had a job to do, he was the Colonel, there was no way he was going to abandon his post to go on some sort of date. He sneered at the idea, sat back in his chair and put his headphones back on.  
“..I know but Caleb’s meeting’s going on a long time, maybe I should call him?” She pulled her phone out of her pocket, tank grabbed it from her before she could react.  
“No” His face was stern, his brow furrowed “He’s in a meeting. Leave him” She was startled by his reaction, she silently took a seat next to him. Casey wanted to rip his damn head off, he could have hurt her.  
“What’s really going on Tank?” She asked softly.

“You gonna tell her Solomon?” Casey said to the screen in front of him, hand fisting as he spoke: “You gonna tell her he’s out sexing up Walker?”

“What do you mean?” Tank replied, “What’s going on with what?”  
“Well, she sat cross-legged, her leggings outlined her curvy legs and pulled tight around her thighs. Casey let out a long breath. “I’ve hung out with you, just us, what? 7 times in the last year? 4 of those have been in the last 2 weeks. So what’s going on?”  
He reached over and tapped her leg “I like you. We are friends no?”   
“Of course we are Tank” She grinned back, running a hand through her hair, it made Casey’s stomach muscles pull a little tightly, odd. “But, Caleb is barely here at the moment, he seems to send you to babysit me on certain days. I’m not an idiot Solomon” So she does know his real name “I know something big is going on, why won't you tell me?”  
He shrugged “Is nothing to tell” She made a frustrated noise, clenching her jaw she threw her hands up and stood up.  
“Fine. Be like that, but just know that when I find out what it is” She got up close to his face, they were the same height when he was sitting and she was standing, she poked him in the chest. Casey’s eyes grew wide, the girl had balls he had to admit, that guy could snap her with one hand and eat a burger with the other, at the same time “that you are not telling me, I’m coming for you tank” She poked one last time and stomped off to her bedroom leaving him looking dumbfounded and Casey grinning.

Casey heard his phone buzz, he picked it up, there was a text from an unknown number.

Unknown: Hi, Alex explained that you are unwell and didn't want to pass on any germs, very thoughtful of you. I’m happy to reschedule if you want to?

He raised his top lip doing a pretty good Elvis impression, his phone buzzed again.

Unknown: It’s Jessie by the way.

He squinted at the screen, trying not to break his phone he tapped a message to Alex.

Casey: You gave her my number?

Alex: Technically Morgan did, but she’s really cool Dad, just get to know her. Please.

Casey: I. WILL. KILL. HIM.

Unknown: Alex said you were shy so take all the time you want. I’m a kindergarten teacher, I have all the patience (wink).

He flopped back into his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. This is not good. Not good at all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay, Christmas kind of took over. I hope you are enjoying it so far?!

It was well into the afternoon before Annabella left her office and began to walk towards Big Mike’s. She hadn’t spoken to anyone all day but she had a huge grin on her face. A suspicious grin. A grin Casey was going to find out about. He stalked towards her and intercepted her somewhere near large appliances.

“Miss Lawson” He mock tipped his hat.  
“Why Mr Casey!” She grinned, adopting a fake southern accent as she curtsied. Casey learnt about a week or so back that she had a weakness for cowboys and intended to use it to his advantage.  
“What’s put that grin on your face?”  
“It’s my anniversary, 2 years with Caleb and I’ve…” Casey’s phone began to ring. She shook her head at him, smiling and walked away, he didn’t bother to see who was calling. He knew instantly with timing like that it had to be Bartowski.  
“What?” He growled.  
Except it wasn’t Chuck. There was a feminine gasp on the other end before she cleared her throat and tentatively said “Mr Casey? It’s erm, Jessie, I was supposed to meet you for a date a few nights ago but you were unwell. I was just ringing to see if you were feeling any better, but if it’s a bad time I can call again?”  
Shit. Now he was stuck, he leant against the wall and tried to keep his voice neutral.  
“Jessie. Sorry about that, I thought you were my idiot co-worker”  
“Not unless you’re co-worker is a 5ft 10-inch blonde” She laughed, it was somewhere between a cackle and a hiss, it took him by surprise “I was wondering if you were free tonight?”  
“I’ve got to work late tonight”  
“At the buy more?”  
“Yep”

The conversation couldn’t have been going any worse for him, he was distracted, able to see Annabella through the window of Big Mike's office. He managed to end the call quickly but promised to meet her later, against his better judgement. 

#

“Come on” Cuervo ran his fingers down Sarah’s arm “Just this once? Eh? For me?” He gently kissed her on the cheek. She raised her hand to her necklace, the one he got her and smiled sweetly.  
“Ok,” He pressed his mouth against hers. She threw her apron on the desk and locked the doors to the Orange Orange as they left.  
Cuervo drove them to the beach where they intended to spend the afternoon enjoying the sun, sand and sea.  
“Baby?” They were laying next to each other on the blanket, hand in hand, both with their eyes closed “I’m thinking you should not go to work on Monday, ok? You will spend the day with me instead, Si?”  
“I have a shift, I’ve already closed early today, I can’t take another day off” she huffed a little  
“Is not a question, is a statement, you will not go to work Monday” His voice a little darker than Sarah had heard it before, she acted like the meek little shop girl and nodded, he gently kissed her fingers “That's my girl” Her insides squeezed together as she fought the urge to kick him. She did, however, excuse herself to go to the toilet where she text Casey.  
Sarah: Cuervo won’t let me go to work Monday. Think something’s planned.  
Casey: Find out what and where.  
Sarah: Will do.

#

Annabella bounced out of Big Mike's office still grinning from ear to ear.

"You look very happy with yourself" Chuck grinned at her, it made his nose wrinkle a little at the top.  
"I'm going home a little early" She grinned back clasping her hands behind her back and swinging her shoulders a little.  
"Ohhh, something exciting going on?"  
She put a loose strand of hair gently behind her ear "It's mine and Caleb's 2nd anniversary and I'm cooking him dinner. Turns out Big Mike is a softy for a spot of romance"  
"Eww, don't Tell Morgan, he's dating his Mum!"

They both enjoyed a little giggle together before she headed off to get her things. As she was about to leave Casey intercepted her in the doorway.

"Leaving early?" He asked squinting a little.  
"Wow" She gasped "nothing gets by you Casey"  
He straightened a little and did a mock frown "Gotta keep your eyes open in this place" He scanned the shop dramatically before whispering "Shoplifters are everywhere" She grinned "Mind if I ask a favour?" She shook her head "I'm getting out a little early too, could a get a lift? I only live 15 minutes from here"  
"Of course, grab your stuff, I'll wait here"

He quickly went back to the break room and informed Chuck of his decision to leave early and get more intel from Annabella on the way home. It wasn't long before Casey had folded himself into her little Nissan Figaro and they were pulling out of the mall car park.

"What's with the toy car?" Casey grumbled  
"Shhh, don't talk about Katherine that way" She gently tapped the dashboard and made him snort a little "I'd always wanted one ever since I was little and I saw this little lady for sale a few days ago and thought, what the hell, doesn't look like I'll be leaving any time soon, so I bought her"  
"And named her Katherine?" He raised an eyebrow  
"What? She's a lady, like Katherine Hepburn"  
"You and the boyfriend staying now then? Carlton? Or Callum or something?"  
"Caleb. It seems that way, although he is popping back to the UK on Wednesday for a bit, he said there was no point in me going back with him as it's such a short time"

"Right here" he pointed "Pull up in the space that says 4, that's my parking spot, cars in the garage since I pool with Chuck most days. So what have you planned for your anniversary?"  
She pulled her beloved green Figaro into the large space and turned the engine off, she looked at the walled complex and took in all the trees overhanging it and the beautiful pink roses surrounding the archway, she swore she could smell them from inside the car. Turning back to her passenger who she was suddenly aware of being very close to her she swallowed loudly and answered "A meal, I bought some of this ostrich steak that Caleb likes, some potatoes, asparagus, peas and sweetcorn and for pudding, I'm making apple crumble. My Granny's recipe, she adores Caleb and was thrilled when he announced that it was his favourite dessert"  
"What's he got planned for you?" Ignoring the cramping in his legs Casey pushed for a little more information before they parted ways.  
"I have no idea. I absolutely love surprises and he knows that so it could be anything. Last year he got me a necklace, this one" She leant slightly forward pushing her neck out so Casey could admire the silver ball necklace hanging delicately around her neck. He was absolutely not looking down her top. No way, he was a professional.  
" It's lovely. Gotta go, thanks for the lift, enjoy your evening" He was already most of the way out of the car before he had finished speaking. She waved and watched him walk through the archway before leaving the carpark.

She had been to the supermarket and made it all the way back to her apartment before the heavens opened and it poured with rain. She stopped and watched a few drops slide effortlessly down the window pain as she filled a pan with water. It was already 6.30 pm, Caleb was due back in half an hour so she quickly went to the bedroom to shower and change into the underwear she had bought as part of Caleb's gift. The part she omitted when telling Casey her plan.  
She came out of the bedroom with 5 minutes to spare. Casey had sat down almost an hour after she got home to watch the monitors, his headphones securely in place, he listened to her humming while she cooked and lay the table, he also discovered that she had the mouth of a sailor when no one else was around, much to his amusement. But when she came out wearing a pink babydoll nightie and matching lace panties, he almost spilt his very hot coffee over himself.

"Fuck" He growled out loud, using one had to adjust his now very tight trousers.  
She couldn't settle, she was pacing and fiddling in the kitchen as 7.10 went by. She pulled out her phone and made a call at 7.20 and another one at 7.30. he assumed she was calling Caleb, who wasn't answering. At 7.45, just as she sat down deflated on the chair the landline rang. Casey could only hear one side of the conversation which frustrated him.

"Hello?"  
"Hi, this is Marie from 'Shenanigans' restaurant, I'm calling to say the table you booked will not be ready until 8.30 pm"  
"Which name is the table booked under please?" She frowned  
"Caleb, party of 2"  
"Wonderful. Thank you!"  
"See you soon ma'am"

She put the phone down and smiled, confusing Casey who was watching intensely, not just because she was still in that damn nightie. She turned the oven off, scrapped everything into a bowl and put it in the fridge and ran back into the bedroom. Casey was more than a little confused.

Casey: Walker you still with Cuervo?  
Sarah: Yeah, is everything ok? Is Chuck ok?  
Casey: You're boyfriends fine Walker 🙄 Lawson's acting weird.  
Sarah: Need help?  
Casey: 🖕

Casey was a little bored of waiting for Annabella to come back out of the bedroom but he couldn't abandon his post. He was thinking of making another drink when he finally heard her bedroom door click, turning to his monitor he saw her walk out wearing a black satin knee-length figure-hugging dress with pink high heeled shoes and a pink handbag. She was grinning from ear to ear. He was forced from the filthy thought he was currently having when she slammed her door, he was able to follow her using the cameras at the hotel, he saw her run quickly from the front doors of the apartment building into a waiting taxi to avoid the rain. It was only then he noticed Tank walking into the apartment building.  
"Where the hell is she going?" He pulled his GPS tracking app up on his phone and watched as the taxi headed downtown.

#

She paid for the taxi and ran from the car to the lobby of Caleb's favourite upper-class restaurant. She checked her watch, 8.45, not too late, straightened her dress out, fiddled with her hair and walked to the front desk.  
The wind was slowly knocked out of her lungs, she felt as if she had been punched in the stomach, her hands gripped the table in front of her as she looked past the waitress who was saying something but it just sounded like white noise. She could see him, see them, Caleb and Sarah. She watched as he used his fingers to brush a strand of hair out of her face before grabbing her chin and kissing her deeply.  
Annabella stumbled back a little. She wanted to scream, to make a scene but instead, she ran, back out into the rain and along the boulevard. She ran until she wasn't sure where she was, the rain soaking her skin and masking her tears. She removed her shoes and let her bare feet slap against the sidewalk. Her hair was ruined, her dress was ruined and she was sure her makeup had run. But she continued to walk in the rain, unsure if she was shivering from the rain or just shaking. Either way, she didn't care, she clutched her stomach and sobbed.

The hand came out of nowhere, slapping across her mouth, leaving her unable to scream as a large arm snaked around her hips and lifted her up, she kicked violently making contact with the person's shin and she felt herself being carried backwards into an alleyway.

"Shhhh, Annabella it Casey, I'm not going to hurt you but I need you to be quiet" He whispered in her ear, but not removing his hand quite yet "look" he pointed her towards the alley entrance, they were hidden in the shadows as she watched Tank walk past. Her eyes widened. "I need you to be quiet, do you understand?" She nodded. He slowly put her down and she turned to face him, blinking against the rain as she looked up at him. In hindsight, he should have seen it coming. She raised her hand and slapped him straight across his handsome face. She turned but he grabbed her by the arm "Wait" He hissed as Tank made his second walk past the alley.  
"Wait?" She spat, her words laced with venom "So you can do what with me? Hmm?"  
"You've got it wrong Annabella. I need you to trust me. I'm going to get us out of the rain and back to my place where I will explain everything, but for now, I need you to trust me". She narrowed her eyes at him. After the day she's had he was probably a serial killer but at this point, she's not even sure she cares. She nodded, feeling defeated and let him guide her from the street to his Crown Victoria parked along the curb.

"Vicky," He said after pulling out into the traffic, she looked at him, he patted the dashboard "Her names Vicky" The corner of her mouth curved up a little but she didn't say anything. She was quiet all the way back to his apartment.  
They walked through the rose arch and towards his door where they were immediately greeted by someone stepping out of the shadows, Casey almost pulled a gun on them but luckily he recognised the person before he did.

"John?" Jessie stepped forward hesitantly, it had stopped raining luckily.  
"Shit. Jessie." He pinched the bridge of his nose as she looked between him and Annabella, who just waved a little awkwardly. "I, er"  
"You forgot" She cut him off, crossing her arms and accentuating her breasts, they were quite large for an athletic woman "Hi" She held out her hand to Annabella "I'm Jessie, John's date"  
Annabella shuffled awkwardly "I'm Annabella" she smiled a little "Casey's colleague," she shook Jessie's hand and then looked up at Casey.  
"Jessie, things are a little difficult at the moment but if you-"  
"-its fine John, I get the hint' She interrupted him  
"-let me explain"  
"No" she raised her hands "Just. No" she walked around them and disappeared into the night.

"Sorry Casey," Annabella said as he opened his door and guided her in with his hand on her lower back, he noticed the wet satin felt cold and thought she may have shivered for a moment when he touched her. She placed her clutch bag on the coffee table and followed him to the kitchen where he began to make coffee. She still hadn’t said much, that was to be expected he thought. She leaned against the kitchen counter and turned to face the room, she went stiff as a board and her jaw dropped.

“You ok?” He asked, placing the coffee cups on the counter.  
“The fuck is that?” She shouted and ran across the room to his computer which was still displaying her apartment “Oh God” She raised her hand to her mouth briefly before shouting “You’re a stalker!” She ran for the door but Casey beat her to it, standing in the way so she was unable to escape, she grabbed at his soaking shirt and pulled, trying to remove him from the door, he gathered her up and held her arms by her sides, her dress rising with every movement to break free. She didn’t care, the last thing she wanted was to be alone with a stalker “Get off me!” She screeched.  
“Calm down” He growled “If you calm the fuck down I can tell you everything”  
“Get off me you asshole” He couldn’t help but grin at the way she said ‘arsehole’, the English accent always was one of his favourites.  
“Stop!” He boomed, she went limp in his arms and began to sob. He dragged her over to the sofa and placed her gently down, sitting on the coffee table opposite he flashed his NSA badge, she sat up a little straighter, eyes wide “Let’s get out of these wet clothes, make a coffee and I will explain everything. Ok?” Shit! Since when was John Casey gentle?! Why wasn’t he just handcuffing her to the radiator to stop her escaping? Ugh, this woman!

He took her to the guest bathroom and provided her with one of his t-shirts, one of his favourites, the dark green one with ‘Colonel’ on it in white writing, his mother had bought it for him when he earned the rank.  
She emerged from the bathroom shortly after him, the t-shirt went past her knees and hung off her like a poncho but she somehow still looked attractive. He passed her coffee as she sat on the sofa next to him. He was dressed in grey sweatpants and a plain blue T-shirt, it made his eyes sparkle a little more than usual. His phone rang, without looking away from her he answered it.

“Casey”  
“Hi John, its Jessie”  
“Jessie” He looked away from Annabella, she pulled her legs up on the sofa and gently blew her coffee “You ok?”  
“Not really, I want to date you John but I won’t be played” Her voice quiet, he closed his eyes.  
“I understand”  
“If you’re ready to stop mucking about I’m ready to give you one more chance. How does that sound?”  
He couldn't help but smirk, he could tell she was a teacher by the way she spoke. He took a sideways glance at Annabella. The job came first.  
“I can't promise that and I can't tell you why”  
“Are you kidding me, John? Forget it. Just. Forget it” Her voice cracked a little as she hung up on him. He looked at the phone and then at Annabella again. She gave him a small smile.

“Sorry,” She said quietly “Did I ruin things for you?” She sipped her coffee.  
“Nope” He rubbed his hand down his face and sighed “I did that on my own”  
“You really like her, huh?” He wasn't sure how to answer that, he thinks he might if he ever got the chance to actually date her.  
“Maybe” was all he managed, he was interrupted by his doorbell. He noticed she shrank back into the sofa a little as he got up to answer it. He looked through the peephole and shook his head, pulling the door open a little more violently than necessary.

“What d’you want Bartowski?”  
“Jessie called Ellie, Ellie wanted me to come and speak to you. Can I come in?” Casey stepped back letting him passed. Annabella immediately put her drink down and ran to him, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. It took a second for him to respond, he gently hugged her back. Casey was absolutely not looking at the way his t-shirt rode up a little exposing the soft curves of her ass, or the fact that she was still wearing those damn panties from earlier.

“Oh Chuck” She held his hand, taking him to Casey’s sofa “I’m so sorry” she gently rubbed circles on the back of his hand. He just looked at her confused and then at Casey, who suddenly realised what was going on.  
He huffed a little as he said “Walkers date. She saw”  
“Ohhhhhh,” He said facing her again “You saw Sarah on a date with Caleb?” She nodded, ignoring the tears stinging her eyes.  
“I’m so sorry Chuck”  
“Hey, hey, it’s ok, it’s not what you think”  
“They were kissing, Chuck! Kissing! I should bloody kiss you, or, or him” She pointed to Casey “to show them how it feels” They both froze “Don't worry, I’m not that kind of girl,” She said quietly.  
It took over 2 hours for them to explain that Sarah and Chuck’s relationship was fake and that they were CIA and working with Casey who was NSA to take down Cuervo, who was really Caleb. She had a lot of questions. Eventually, Chuck went home and left her with Casey. He couldn't take her home, she would have to stay the night. Casey let her watch Caleb on the monitor for a few minutes, she had 12 missed calls on her phone. They decided it was best if she just texts him so he wouldn't start getting suspicious.

Annabella: Sorry Caleb, going to stay at friends, both had a bit to drink.

Caleb: What friend?

Annabella: Just someone from work. See you tomorrow xx

Caleb: Who?

“Casey who’s house shall I say I’m at?”  
“Say, Ellie,” He said picking up his phone to call walker.

Annabella: I’m at Ellie’s. Stop worrying, I’m fine xx

Caleb: Straight home tomorrow though baby. Te Quiero xxx

Annabella: I love you too xx

She sneered at her phone, but she was told to act normal, so she didn't arouse suspicion. Casey filled Sarah in on the details. He showed Annabella the guest room and was about to leave when she spoke.

“Casey?” She walked up to him, she looked so fragile “Thank you” She ran her hands up his chest and put her arms around his neck, she was on her tip-toes so he bent forward slightly, making it easier for her to hug him. He ran his hands down her sides and held her hips.  
“Welcome,” He said quietly. She didn't appear to want to let go, when he went to pull away she just squeezed tighter. He held her for a few more seconds before speaking again “Annabella?”  
“Don't let go” She whispered into his neck. He could feel her steady breaths pushing her breasts into his chest with every inhale. He swallowed hard and lifted her up, he hesitated for a split second and when she didn't complain he walked over to the bed and laid her down, she was still clinging to his neck so he had no choice but to lay down with her, they ended up so he was on his back and she was half sprawled over him. He tickled the back of her legs for a little while.  
“Hey,” He said gently nudging her “I gotta get up” He needed to get up before she felt his very natural reaction to her and he embarrassed himself.  
“Stay with me?” She lifted her head to look at him.  
“I can’t” His voice sounded strained like he was saying something his body didn't want him to say.  
“Please?”

Jesus. Why was it so hard for him to let her go? She's a fucking civilian. Get a grip, John.

“No,” He said softly as he slid out from underneath her, she turned away from him on the bed “Sorry”  
“Just go,” She said so softly he almost missed it. Following her orders, he went onto his own room. He couldn't say his sleep was restful, he kept looking at the door thinking, or maybe it was hoping, that she would walk in.


	6. Chapter Six

“Yes” Annabella reminded Casey of a petulant child as she crossed her arms and furrowed her brow “It’s perfectly acceptable for me to wear your t-shirt home, I can change when I’m there”  
“It’s indecent for public appearances” He pointed out for maybe the fifth time that morning.  
“I’m not the Queen Casey, no-one cares what I wear” She began to shout, obviously still prickly from the night before when she asked him to stay with her and he turned her down.  
“Take it off”  
She paused for a few seconds before speaking, “Fine,” She pulled it over her head and threw it at his face before stomping passed him to retrieve her dress which was drying in the bathroom. She returned shortly after and smirked at his discomfort in the situation.

They didn't speak as they made their way to her apartment, he dropped her off a couple of blocks away so Cuervo didn't see them. She pulled herself together and took a couple of deep breaths before she opened her door.

“Caleb?” She called. She felt more nervous now knowing Casey was watching and listening from the car than she thought she would “Are you here?” She knew he was, she’d seen him on the monitor.  
“Where have you been chica?” He grinned walking towards her, he picked her up and swung her round, she giggled and kissed him again.  
“Thats not my name and I told you, Ellie’s”  
“Ellie who?”  
“Ellie from work”  
“Dressed like that?”   
“We went for a few drinks, a little dancing and then back to hers for a few more drinks”  
“Hmm” He hummed a smile and said “Go get a shower, you look like a whore” He laughed but for the first time ever she realised that sometimes he could be a little mean, how had she never seen it before?

As soon as the door was shut he made a call.  
“Tank, she’s back, don't let her out of your sight, do you hear me?......Yeah, no, I don't care if she's there or not, just stick to the plan. Monday. You and Seb check out the tunnels while she’s at work…..no, she has no idea…….Just do it” He hung up and shook his head. He made another call.

“Hey baby” He spoke a little quieter this time “We still on for monday?.....I’m thinking Vegas for a few days, gamble a little……..yes, you will love it……..See you later baby, don't forget, monday. Adios” Casey didn't have to do much spy work to know that was Sarah on the other end of the phone.

#

“Clear” Casey heard Annabella’s voice over the radio and quickly moved from his car to the apartment, she let him in, followed a few minutes later by Chuck and Sarah “What are we looking for exactly?” She asked moving a pile of papers from the dining table and flicking through them.  
“He bought some antique maps, so-”  
“-Maps?” She quickly said “Bottom of the wardrobe” Chuck and Sarah looked at eachother and ran into the bedroom. Annabella and Casey carried on with their search in the living area.

“You ok?” He asked, not looking at her.  
“Yes thank you” She replied sharply  
“You don't have to be embarrassed” He said gently.  
“What the Hell Casey? I-” She was cut off by the sound of keys in the door, she mouthed the word bathroom to Casey who quickly went and hid, Sarah and Chuck remained in the bedroom.  
“Oh Caleb!” She loudly exclaimed, moving across the room to hug him “What are you doing back so soon?” He looked around the room suspiciously and then back at her.  
“Why are you not at work chica?”  
“Oh I er, I wasn't em, I wasn't feeling well so I decided to, er, to stay-” The sound of a cell phone ringing made them both freeze.

In the bathroom Casey fumbled for his phone and saw the name ‘Jessie’ pop up before he rejected the call and put it on silent. The bathroom door flew open and Caleb came crashing in. He was a bit shorter than Casey and not as built but he was nasty and didn't play by the rules, he scratched and punched Casey. Casey only made defensive moves until Caleb let go and ran back out towards Annabella. His fist hitting her cheek made a crunching sounds and something inside Casey snapped. He dragged Caleb backwards towards the kitchen and slammed his head into the counter breaking his nose with an audible crack, claret spattered the clean surface as Caleb spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Casey!” Annabella screamed “Casey, no!” She pulled at his arms, trying to stop him from injuring Caleb too badly, despite her head thumping from her previous assult “Casey please” He had Caleb pushed up against the counter at this point, both fighting for the upper hand.  
“This is you’re affair man Chica?” Casey and Annabella looked at eachother.  
“Not my name Caleb. Casey you should leave” She said quietly.  
“Not without you” He growled, she could feel the blood trickling down her cheek.  
“Forget it chump” Caleb let out a manic laugh “She will never leave me, right baby?”  
“Right, but Caleb, that’s not my name” She said looking pointedly at Casey. He let Cuervo go and headed for the door, he gave her one last look before leaving.

“Aw. Your beautiful face” Caleb moved to where Annabella was standing and put his hands either side of her face, she was sobbing quietly “You make me do this Annabella, you know that, right? He squeezed a little watching the tears leave track marks down her face.   
“Right” Her voice crackled a bit.  
“Now. I have things to do and you, you do not leave the apartment, do you understand me, you do not go anywhere” She nodded “Dont make me hurt you again” Another nod “Tank is outside the door, he will make sure you are not being naughty. Ok?”  
“Ok” He gently kissed her and walked out slamming the door. She looked through the peephole and as promised Tank was on the other side of it. Chuck and Sarah stuck their heads round the door, Annabella slumped down on the sofa.

“Hey” Chuck said gently bundling her up into a cuddle “C’mon, it’s going to be ok, you have the best team in the world at your beck and call”   
She glanced at Sarah “Yeah, cos that's done me a world of good so far” she buried her face back in Chuck’s shoulder, Sarah bit her lip and fiddled with her gun a little, something she only did when she was nervous.  
“It’s not a real affair” She said moving a step closer  
“It’s real to me,” her voice muffled by her face being buried in the crook of Chuck's neck.

They sat in silence until a tapping on the kitchen window pulled them back into the present, Casey was outside the 4th story window on a cleaner hoist. Sarah ran to let in him through the window.

“Bartowski” He barked “Get over here” He pushed him towards the window where Sarah had already climbed through  
“Oh...oh Casey, that's not good. That is not a good idea. Holy hell” Sometimes Chuck didn't know why he bothered to protest as Casey manhandled him through the window and shut it behind him. He watched as Chuck and Sarah dropped out of sight. He went to the bathroom in search of a first aid kit and returned to the sofa.

“We need to sort your cheek out” He pulled her head round to face him, dabbing it with what she assumed was a cloth damp with antiseptic, it certainly smelled that way. She made a hissing noise and squeezed her eyes shut. He was incredibly gentle for a man of his size “Gotta clean you up” He said barely above a whisper. She looked up at him and noticed his lip was split, she tentatively brushed her finger against it, feeling the dried blood crumble beneath it.  
“Does it hurt?” She looked concerned, and smelled like roses, although he wasn't exactly sure why he was thinking about what she smelled like at this exact moment.  
“Nope”   
“I’m sorry about Jessie” Her hands were back on her lap, head still in his hands “I hope I didn't ruin anything”  
“Can't ruin what was never there” He went to the bathroom and cleaned his own face up, sighing when Tank flung the front door open and made Annabella jump.  
“Tank!” She shouted “What the hell are you doing?”  
“Boss said to check on you randomly, so I'm checking on you” He shrugged.  
“I’m about to have a shower, if you ‘check on me’” She used her fingers to illustrate the punctuation “And see something you shouldn't do you think Caleb will be ok with that? Do you think he will just shrug it off and say, pffft it’s only Tank?”  
He shook his head, wide eyed.  
“No exactly, so knock next time and I will let you in, we don't want to anger him anymore”  
He nodded “For the record Chica, I don't like when he hit you”  
“Not my name Tank, and I know” She smiled and patted his arm as she let him back out through the main door and closed it behind him.

Making her way to the bathroom she closed the door behind her. Casey was sat on the side of the bath.  
“So now we’re stuck in here?” He quirked a sarcastic eyebrow, she thought it made him look even more handsome.  
“No. I’m stuck in here, you can leave if you want” She sat down next to him, he looked down at her and smirked.  
“Won't he get suspicious if there’s no water running?”  
She rolled her eyes “Trying to get me wet again Mr Casey”  
He snorted “It’s Colonel”  
She put her hand on her heat dramatically “Well, I’m ever so sorry Colonel, I won't make that mistake again”  
Damn it she was cute.  
She tried to reach over him to turn on the shower but ended up pushing herself up against him as her feet slid a little on the tiled floor. He grabbed her hips and growled softly as she managed to turn the water on, reaching above his head. The shower head was facing the wall so they managed not to get wet but both moved to sit on the floor with their backs against the bath. She was still a little flushed from both embarrassment and excitement from him holding her steady.

"So, you're staying?" She didn't look at him as she spoke so she missed the small nod he gave.  
"Staying" His phone vibrated and he pulled it out to read the message, she purposely looked away from the screen to give him some privacy and ignored the tightness in her chest as she asked  
"Jessie?"  
He gave a small affirmative grunt and continued to look at his phone. She was desperate to look at the screen, especially as he was taking far to long staring at it motionless. She summarised that it must be a photo, she wasn't sure what kind of photo but she heard him huff a little and begin to type. 

Jessie: Hi John, are you free for a drink sometime this week? I've got a black tie doctor doo to go to and wondered if you would be my plus one on Saturday? Let me know, I tried to call earlier but you must be working. Jessie xx

He must have deleted the message he wrote out 4 times before once again just staring at the screen.

"Are you ok Casey?" Annabella looked round, the phone screen was black and he was still staring at it. He looked at her when she spoke, he looked confused and tilted his head a little reminding her of a puppy. He nodded. "Liar" She smirked. His eyes went wide and a small grin appeared on his face.  
"Ok smartass, here's the situation. Jessie likes me"  
"Obviously"  
He nudged her with his shoulder "Let me finish. And it's been a long time since I've dated and-"  
She cut him off "-How long?"  
"Too long"  
She huffed out a laugh and got up to turn the shower off "Go on"  
"I wanna know why? Why now? Why me?"  
"Fuck off!" His eyebrows almost flew off his face in surprise as she slapped her hands over her mouth and sank back down next to him.   
She cleared her throat "What I meant to say, before my inner sailor came out, was why you? Jesus Casey, go look in that mirror! You're beautiful, those sparkling blue eyes, that chiseled jawline, those arms" She was suddenly very aware that he was staring intensely at her, she squirmed a little under his gaze. 

He pulled out a box from his pocket and gave it to her.  
"A gift? For me?' Her heart was beating wildly. She opened the box to see a floral brooch, it was a wildflower bouquet, she recognised the foxgloves and the bluebells immediately. Unsure of what to say she let her jaw hang loose a little.  
"It's both a camera and a bug, I need you to get Cuervo to implicate himself in a major terror crime, it's so you can leave the apartment and still trap him"  
"Oh" She quietly responded "Thank you"  
"I can see and hear everything on this so remember to remove it before showering" He winked.  
"Ok" She pinned it to her top and smiled a little.  
"Bella?" He said softly, turning to face her, he lifted her chin with his fingers so she had no choice but to look directly at him.

"Miel" Caleb's voice echoed through the small apartment "Where are you?" They both jumped apart and rose to their feet.  
"I'll be out in a second Caleb" She shouted.  
Casey was mouthing something at her, it took her a second to figure out what he was saying.  
"And, that's not my name" He stuck his thumbs up when he heard Cuervo laugh. She slipped out of the bathroom and went to hug Caleb, closing the door behind her.

"What's the matter with you? Your face. Is all pink" He grabbed her face, his fingers were bonier than Casey's and he was much more rough with her, he screwed up his nose and puckered his lips "Who's in there?" He looked towards the bathroom, making her grab his suit jacket.  
"Caleb" She pulled him back into her and tried to hug him but he pushed her away and kicked the bathroom door inwards. The door flung open crashing into the towel rail. 

Annabella gasped and took a step backwards expecting another fight to break out but Caleb turned around and held his arms out.  
"Ok Mi Amour, I believe you. You make me crazy you know that" She stared slack jawed past him into the bathroom, where the hell had he gone, a man like Casey can't just fold himself up into a cupboard or stand behind the door in that small space.  
"Not my name Caleb" She said, it sounded distant even to her.

#

"Casey?" Chuck was surprised to see him climbing through the Morgan door, although these days it seems to be the Anybody's door.  
"Can't hear a damn thing Bartowski" He threw the tablet on the bed which showed what Annabella was looking at but didn't play any sound from her brooch "Fix it"  
"Sure, sure, just calm down there, big guy" He clutched the tablet and plugged it into his computer, Casey paced up and down behind him "You're kinda putting me off there buddy" Chuck didn't look round, just as well because Casey had bent very low to his ear and growled  
"Then get a move on"  
Chuck just nodded enthusiastically "Has it been broken all day?"  
"No numbnuts or I would have been over here sooner. It just cut out about 10 minutes ago and I need that footage"  
"On it" Chuck began running a diagnostic "So how's it going with Jessie? Any big dates lined up?" The minute it left his mouth Chuck regretted asking, he tensed his body waiting for the inevitable onslaught, but it never came. He heard the bed spring depress as Casey sat down on it sighing.  
"She didn't say it" He said quietly  
"Who didn't say what?" He turned round on his Wheely chair only to have Casey shove him back in front of the computer where he banged his knee on the table "Ow!"  
"That's not my name" He said through gritted teeth "She didn't say it"  
"Ok dude you've lost me now, I have no idea what you are talking about"  
"Lawson, she didn't correct me when I shortened her name"  
"Annabella? I thought we were talking about Jessie, um hmm, ok, yeah, yeah, no, still don't get it"   
"Just fix it Bartowski!" He said probably louder than he needed to given that Chuck was only sat a few feet in front of him.

It took another 20 minutes but eventually Chuck managed to get the device to play sound again. Casey snatched it back and made his way back to his apartment.

"Go to the bedroom baby, I need to make a work call" Caleb was sat on the sofa of their apartment, Annabella stood up and hesitated before answering   
"Sure" She took off her cardigan and put it over the back of the chair with a direct line of sight to Caleb.

"Clever girl" Casey grinned as he saw her put her pin on there before leaving for the bedroom. He watched as Caleb settled on the sofa making sure she had gone.

"Yeah it's me...All set for Monday? Si si si, I said don't worry if she's there, we go ahead as planned" 

Casey sat forward on his chair "C'mon, give us more" He grumbled

"No" Caleb turned and looked at the bedroom door "She needs to go"

Casey thumped his fist onto the table making everything jump and clatter.  
"Bastard!" He hissed through gritted teeth


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for staying with me over these 7 chapters. I hope you've all enjoyed it, especially Ambear :) I'm always happy to hear from you, so leave a comment if you wanna say hi.

It had been a slow day at the buy more, Morgan, the assistant manager gave the ok for Chuck and Casey to go to Castle to see if they could go over the print out of the maps Chuck and Sarah had photographed in Annabella’s bedroom. Even if Morgan didn’t give the ok, Casey was going anyway. He was in a foul mood and had been all day.   
Sarah was set to leave for vegas that evening with Cuervo, who had popped by to have lunch with Annabella.

“Annabella Lawson to the nerd herd desk, Annabella Lawson to the nerd herd desk, you have a visitor” Morgan made full use of the tannoy system. She bounced out of the staff room and flung her arms around Cuervo’s neck.

“Pleased to see me Chica?” He pulled his head back to look at her, she kissed the tip of his still bruised nose and softly said  
“Not my name” He threw his head back laughing. Keeping up appearances at this point was difficult when he made her skin crawl.

They didn't go far, only to the cafe opposite Orange Orange where Sarah could keep an eye on them, and Casey of course via the brooch she was wearing. They took a seat near the window, as Caleb went to order their food and drinks at the counter. She pulled out a newspaper with a recent terror attack on the front cover, she placed her cardigan over the chair in between them and hoped the view was about right for the camera, Casey had said the microphone was very sensitive so it should be able to pick up their voices. Checking Caleb was occupied she blew a kiss to the camera and grinned making Casey snort and cover it up with a cough when Chuck raised a questioning eyebrow. He was sitting with his feet up against the table in Castle and the tablet on his lap, earphones in.

“Here you go angel” Caleb passed her hot tea, it wasn't the same in America as it was at home, but she made do.  
“Thank you Caleb. I was just wondering if you are at all capable of using my actual name, Annabella? You seem to call me everything but that”  
“I call you whatever I want, ok?” He squeezed her leg a little too hard making her wince slightly “Everybody call you Annabella, I want to be different”  
She didn't answer him, instead, she began to read the article, Caleb looked over it briefly and huffed.  
“Why are you reading this nonsense?” He tapped the paper.  
“It’s a terror attack, it's hardly nonsense” She chuckled sarcastically “Don't you want to know what's going on?”  
“No,” He said abruptly changing the subject “My flights have been changed, I’m flying out tonight instead of Wednesday”  
“What?” She looked at him, narrowing her eyes a little playfully “Oh I see, this lunch was to sweeten me up so I didn't make a scene in public huh?” She laughed and stroked the side of his face, looking into his eyes she spoke softly, Casey could still hear her “Caleb, I won't see that man again, I made a mistake, I’m sorry”  
He grinned, it wasn't nice though, it was feral, his voice took an ominous tone as he replied, “I know you won't, don't worry” He laughed “You still working tomorrow, Monday right?” She nodded “Good Girl” He leaned forward and kissed her, it was gentle and soft, not Caleb’s usual style at all.

#

“That map” Casey pointed to the map that Chuck had “Are there any forgotten tunnels near the Buy More, ones that we have not utilized, or ones that don't appear on our blueprints?”  
“Erm” Chuck compared the two for a minute “One I think, right here” He pointed to a tunnel leading from large mart to Castle “But it’s apparently blocked in after the building sank in 1973”  
“Guess we’re breaking into large mart tonight then” Casey smiled.  
“You think he’s blowing up Large mart?” Chuck looked confused.  
“No dumbass, he’s blowing up the last remaining obstacle in the tunnels to the coast, the perfect smuggling tunnels, but disguising it as a terror attack by blowing up the buy more and large mart”  
“Oh. Ohhh. That's why he wants Annabella to work tomorrow, he’s planning on blowing her up” He ran his hands through his slightly mad looking hair “That's. That's fucking horrible” He stared at the floor as the realisation set in.  
“Now you’re gettin it champ”  
“Do you think she knows?”   
Casey shrugged “She’s a clever woman, don't see why not”

#

Annabella and Caleb stopped outside the buy more, he placed his hands either side of her face and looked at her, it was a soft look, softer than she had seen him in a little while, it made her smile a little, reminding her of the Caleb she first met.  
“Are you ok?” She asked putting her hands over his.  
“I want to remember you like this, just like this” Her grin grew wider, she hoped the tears wouldn't fall until he had left.  
“Don't be daft!” She laughed “I’ll see you in a few days”  
“Bye Annabella” He pulled her close to him, pressing her mouth onto his with his hand on the back of her head. She whispered her farewell against his mouth. She didn't watch him walk away, instead, she walked purposely back into the buy more, holding her breath and trying not to blink. She shut herself in her cupboard office and stood in the corner. She slid down the wall and sat on the floor with her knees up against her as the tears she was so desperately holding in began to fall. She placed her hand over her mouth to stifle her sobs and squeezed her eyes shut.

Casey was gathering his toys from the armoury when he looked at the tablet on the table in front of him, all he could see was a black screen jolting ever so often. He put the earphones in to hear muffled crying, watching as the screen jolted with every sharp intake of breath.

“Shit” He spat, running for the door to Castle, he took the stairs two at a time and moments later he appeared in the home theatre room, he pushed the door open and almost knocked Lester over.  
“Oh hey John, so that’s where you’ve been hiding?” He hadn't even finished his sentence before Casey had disappeared into the staff room “Good talk. Yeah”

Casey pushed the door to Annabella’s office open and locked it behind him, there was barely enough room to manoeuvre in there with the desk and 2 chairs, he pulled a chair out of the way to get to her. He squatted in front of her.  
“Bella?” He moved his hand to touch her but pulled it back again.  
“He’s going to kill me isn't he?” She had her head resting on her knees, she didn't bother to raise her head to speak  
“No” He said firmly “I won't let that happen”  
“How can you be sure?” She lifted her head, her face was wet from tears and her mascara had run a little, he felt his chest clench when her eyes met his. Damn small spaces, he wasn't made for them.  
He pointed to his chest and smirked “Colonel remember?” She managed a watery smile “You won't be alone”  
“Will you stay with me?”  
“Most of the time yes. But I’m er, I’m busy tonight so Chuck will stay with you. Sarah’s going to vegas with Cuervo” Even saying his name pissed Casey off.  
“Busy?” She croaked, he shuffled a little.  
“Date” He coughed a little after saying it.  
“Jessie?” He nodded. She sank her head back down.  
He pulled her arms up until she was standing and pulled her against him, he gently stroked the back of her head as she cried into his green buy more uniform and clutched the back of it tightly in her fists. He was struck by how delicate she felt; like she would smash if he moved.   
“Let’s get you home”  
“Caleb’s still there” She sobbed.  
“My apartment,” He said taking her hand and leading her out of her tiny office “You can help me pick a shirt” He rolled his eyes and his inner monologue called him a moron.  
They had just gotten back to Casey’s when Chuck text.

Chuck: Beckman's team have set up the cameras, I’ve sent you the link so you can watch the tunnels entrance. Sarah’s flight is on-time, 2 people undercover on the plane, and a bunch of them at the hotel and casino, she will move in on our word. How's the package, we do use the term package now, right?  
Casey rolled his eyes as he passed Annabella a coffee.

Casey: Get back here for 7pm. Package is drinking coffee.

While he had his phone out he sent another couple of texts before asking Annabella about Curveo’s crew. She was able to give names and descriptions for 3 of them which Casey sent off in an email to Beckman to circulate. They finished their coffee and Casey stood up.  
“Back in a sec, I’m only upstairs”

He was gone for about half an hour and returned wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a dark grey shirt. He was holding up a navy shirt in his other hand.  
“Which one?” He asked, his hair still a little wet from his shower.  
“So you were serious about the shirt?” She smiled “Navy one, it’ll bring out your eyes”

He nodded his thanks and began to unbutton his grey shirt, Annabella knew she should look away but watching his fingers make short work of the shirt was captivating, he moved one shoulder forward and then stretched back slightly while removing it all the way. She could see his muscles move beneath his skin as he picked up his other shirt, ready to cover that delightful vision in front of her. Was it hot in here all of a sudden? Her cheeks flushed and her breath hitched, her eyes travelled over his chest and the well-trimmed carpet of dark hair covering it, following it all the way down to the waistline of his jeans. She thought his hair must be soft, it looked soft, she wanted to touch it. She swallowed loudly. He was buttoning up his navy shirt when she suddenly realised he was speaking.

“Did you hear me?” He was smirking, she knew full well he had seen her almost dribble over him. She didn't trust her voice not to croak so she simply shook her head, “I said Chuck will be here in about an hour, take you back to his apartment across the road and back to yours in the morning, ok?” His phone buzzed again, she suddenly had an unreasonable hatred for that damn phone and whoever was on the other end of it. Probably, Jessie, she thought.

Chuck: Has the package eaten?

“Chuck says do you want dinner?”  
“Pizza please?” She smiled.

Casey: No, get pizza with her, use approved delivery only.

He moved a stack of papers from the coffee table and a photo fell out. It was Casey smiling with his arm around a very attractive blonde lady. She picked it up and looked at it a little while before asking.  
“Who’s this lovely lady?”  
“Rea” He sat down next to her.  
“Girlfriend? You said you haven't dated in a very long time, but this is clearly the early part of this year, you can see the date on the banner behind you, look?”  
“Rea was not a girlfriend. She was” He didn't want to say it “an asset”  
“Like me?”  
“No, not like you. She was an NSA asset, you’re a civilian asset”  
“You keep saying was, has she left the NSA now? You look very cosy with her” She handed the picture back to Casey who stared for a heartbeat too long before saying  
“She’s dead” He rubbed his hand over his face, she put her hand on his leg to comfort him.  
“I’m so sorry Casey, I didn't mean to bring up a painful memory for you”  
“She was a lot like Caleb”  
“A terrorist?” Her mouth made a perfect o shape, he huffed and smiled a little.  
“No. Not a terrorist, but she was bad. She went rogue and had to be neutralised. But we did have something, not a relationship, something less defined”  
“Neutralised like killed? Holy shit Casey, that's terrible. How did you find out?”  
“I was there”  
“Oh God! Well I hope you got the bastard” She put her arm around him as best she could given their size difference.  
“He will suffer, every time he looks at this picture he will suffer” They both remained quiet for a minute or two before he spoke again “Orders are orders” He glanced sideways a her “Not some big shiny hero now huh?”  
“You put your country first like any good Colonel would do, and I for one don't believe you would have done anything that you didn't believe was the right thing to do. You could have shot Caleb at any time, but you didn't, you knew you needed to bide your time and-”

There was a knock at the door which interrupted her. Chuck made his way into the apartment.

“Hey, there package!” He grinned at Annabella waving, she just gave him a puzzled look.  
“Moron” Casey barged past him “Ok, I have my watch on me, Bella’s pin camera is synced to my phone and I’ve left the number of the restaurant for absolute emergencies. Do not contact me unless absolutely necessary. Do I make myself clear?”  
“Crystal, big guy, have fun”

Chuck and Annabella went across the courtyard while Casey made his way to his beloved Crown Victoria.  
Ellie was a wonderful host, she and Awesome enjoyed pizza with them. Then they watched a movie, Annabella hadn't heard of it before but apparently, it was some geeky cult classic.

Jessie and Casey were on their main course, he pulled out his phone for the 4th time to check on Annabella.  
“Am I boring you John?” Jessie was wearing bright red lipstick which everyone including the waiter clearly found distracting as he had been flirting with her all night. Casey should kill him for that, or at least make the guy pee himself, but he just couldn't make himself do it, it just didn't bother him.  
“Work. Sorry. So you like being a kindergarten teacher?” He put his phone away.  
“I love it, the kids are lovely. They make it worthwhile, such little characters” She took a bite of her lamb, smiling around the fork.  
“D’you have kids?” He already knew the answer to that, he’d done a full background check, he wasn't an idiot.  
“God no!” She laughed “Don't want any” He slowly raised his eyes from his plate to her face “I love kids, just don't want any of my own” She shrugged “Does that surprise you?” It was his turn to raise a shoulder in a non-committal answer “Oh come on, an ex-military guy like you, Mr Captain America, you can't honestly tell me you want kids”  
The silence was awkward. He took a few mouthfuls before she changed the subject “You like sports?”  
“Sure”  
“I’m not a huge sports fan myself, can't see the point in all those sweaty bodies prancing about all over the pitch” He laughed, that cackle hiss one again, he winced internally.  
“What d’ya do for fun then?” He was chewing his steak a little more harshly than necessary.   
“Oh loads of things, I love to collect shells, I have a few cats which take up my time, but my favourite place to be in is the gym. Nothing like feeling the burn after a hard work-out”  
“That we agree on” He held out his glass for her to tap.  
The gym conversation kept them going through the rest of the main course and most of the desert.

#

“Are you sure you don't want the bed, Chuck? I feel awful kicking you out of your own bed”  
“No, no it's cool, don't worry. If you need me, just holler and I’ll come running ok?”  
“Thanks, Chuck”  
“No worried Bella”  
“Chuck” She paused to hug him, “That’s not my name” She grinned as he left the room.  
He pulled out his phone.

Chuck: Called her Bella, got told off! The package is in bed, hope your date was good big guy?”

Casey: None of your business Sport

Chuck huffed a giggle and lay down on the sofa, he pulled the cover-up over himself.  
Annabella paced around the room a little, she bit her fingers, wondering whether to go and get Chuck to see if she could borrow a T-shirt. She decided against it and climbed into bed in just her knickers.  
Annabella was restless, she was clearly tired but sleep was eluding her at that precise moment in time. It was almost midnight when she grabbed the brooch from beside the bed and held it in front of her.

#

“I had a lovely time tonight John,” Jessie said as they pulled up to her house in his car “Do you want to come in?” She placed her hand over his, her fingers were spindly and a little rough. He looked from her to the house and back again “Ah. So that’s a no then hmm?” She pulled her hand back “It was lovely to meet you anyway, take care John” She slammed the door shut, her actions betraying the calmness in her voice.

He hadn't been home long when his phone buzzed to let him know Annabella’s brooch had picked up some motion. He pulled his phone out sitting on the arm of the sofa to check the video feed. He could see her face but couldn't hear her, he turned the volume up.

“-probably still out, or maybe you’re in by now?” She brushed the hair out of her face and continued “Anyway, I wanted to say thank you for everything you’re doing for me. I really appreciate it. You said earlier that you're not a big shiny hero and I have to disagree, what you told me doesn't affect the way I see you at all. To me you will always be a shiny hero, except if I die tomorrow, then I might change my mind” He chuckled a little, she yawned “Oh and don't tell Chuck I said this but you are a much better host than he is, no offer of a comfy T-shirt” She rolled her eyes “Sweet dreams Colonel Casey” She blew a kiss to the camera and put it back on the bedside table, facing away from her. Casey held the phone for a little longer, then made his way upstairs to bed.

#

"Bella?" His voice was soft but low, he called her name gently again "Bella?"  
She sat bolt upright "Bollox!" She hissed, her eyes wide with fear and surprise. She fumbled with the bed covers and pulled them up to her neck, momentarily forgetting she was only wearing knickers. Luckily it was dark. "Casey?" Her voice laced with sleep, she rubbed her eyes and stifled a yawn.  
"Thought you could use this" He handed her his Colonel t-shirt, he saw it hanging over his chair before he got into bed, she snickered, pulling it over her head.  
"Thanks" She patted the bed for him to sit down rather than looming above her "How was the date?" Their voices barely above a whisper.  
"She hates sports"  
"Right, I mean, I hope you kicked her in the leg and ran away or something cos heaven forbid someone doesn't like sports" She wrinkled her brow and opened her mouth wide looking mock horrified.  
"You don't like sports?"  
"Yeah I do, I was just teasing you" He made a grunt of approval "Seeing her again?" She fiddled with the edge of the bedspread.  
"Nope. Night" And just like that, he climbed back out the window and made his way back to his apartment. She lay back down, smoothing the oversized t-shirt down.

Casey shut the front door and leaned against it, his forehead pressing against the wood. He closed his eyes for a second and tried to gather his thoughts.

#

Overnight Beckman's team had managed to locate the entrance Cuervo's team were going to use, it was already Monday morning and the shopping complex was busy. No one had spotted anything out of the ordinary, except for a ground crew arriving shortly after 7am but they were heading towards the clothing store next to the orange orange.

"Any sign?" Casey spoke into his watch, he was on the buy more main floor while Chuck was in Castle.  
"No checked all the footage twice, no one's here at all" Chuck paused before saying "Could we be wrong?" He just got a grunt in response.  
Annabella was talking to Big Mike, Casey could see she was nervous, she kept fiddling with her earrings and wouldn't stand still.

It was almost lunchtime when Annabella spotted someone about to exit the clothes store the grounds crew had gone into earlier that morning.  
"Casey?" She called him over waving her hand to get him to hurry "That guy over there, high vis jacket, Jean shorts, dodgy leg tattoo. That's Grant, he works with Caleb, he's definitely not a builder" Casey spoke into his watch and ran towards the suspicious man, he was aided by 3 other operatives when Grant tried to run. Casey grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, used his foot to press on the back of the guys knee to get him to fall to the floor and pushed his face into the dirt.  
"Where's the rest of your crew asshole?" The guy only spoke Spanish, but that's ok, it was one of the seven languages Casey spoke fluently. After establishing the guy wasn't going to talk Casey handed him over to the other operatives, brushed himself off and walked back to the buy more. His eyes quickly scanned the room looking for Annabella, when he didn't see her he assumed she was in her little office. 

"Bartowski, one apprehended, look at security footage to the clothes store next to orange orange" He spoke while he walked, opening Annabella's office door he found it empty. He gingerly knocked on the female bathroom door only to be met with silence "Bartowski? Bella with you?"  
"No, but holy shit Casey you need to get down here, we got it wrong, we're in the wrong place" Casey used the door behind his locker to gain access to Castle and almost jumped down the last set of stairs. He ran over to where Chuck had pulled up a security feed on the main TV screen "Is that? Casey is that a bomb?" They both watched as 2 large men wheeled a crate slowly and carefully along to the service entrance of the clothes shop at just after 4am.  
"Shit. Call Beckman" Casey pulled out his phone, hoping Annabella had remembered her brooch. The screen was blank but he could hear soft breathing and the sound of footsteps walking away. He tried to look at the gps locator but it kept showing an error "Fuck" He growled loudly, making Chuck jump "They've got Bella"

Quickly suiting up into their tactical gear both men loaded themselves with weapons, in Chuck's case a tranq gun but Casey really didn't care as long as he used it. They ran over to the clothing store where Casey discreetly asked them to evacuate the store and flashed his NSA badge. They ran down the steps leading to a tunnel that wasn't marked on either map, they continued jogging, Casey in front, gun ready for action and Chuck behind him.  
They both began to breathe faster as the flashing lights got brighter and they could see the bomb ahead of them.  
"You got this Chuck?" Casey asked, knowing the intersect would easily be able to help Chuck disarm most bombs. Chuck was already on his knees in front of the bomb, Casey put his hand reassuringly on Chuck's shoulder "Nice and easy Sport" Chuck nodded. He opened the lid which made a hissing noise and revealed a mass of wires and a countdown, 3 minutes and counting.

"Ca-sey" They heard a whispered voice come from Casey's phone.  
"Concentrate Chuck," He said taking it out of his pocket, he must have forgotten to turn the brooch cam off.

"I...don't know….if you can hear me?" Annabella's voice was hoarse and a little slow "I don't know where I am but it's dark and I'm scared" He desperately searched the screen for something that would tell him where she was, he grabbed at his hair and looked at the ground in frustration. Footprints. 2 huge sets and 1 smaller distorted set, like someone had been dragged there.

"I know where she is Chuck"  
"Go get her, go get her, I got this" He was sweating and shaking slightly but he had it under control, besides Casey trusted him.   
Casey ran silently down the tunnel in front of him, it was almost pitch black, he could hardly see in front of him, gun drawn in one hand and the phone pressed up to his ear to listen to Annabella.

"And there's 2 men in front of me, guards I think. Both armed" it went quiet for a second before she spoke again "I'm sat on a...Casey, I'm...I'm sat on a bomb" His heart pounded so loudly he could almost swear he heard it outside his chest. He spoke into his watch.  
"Bartowski" he spoke softly so he didn't make Chuck jump "Another one this way when you've dealt with that one.  
Chuck's voice came through clearly "Ok big guy. First one done, on my way to you"

"..Cos I may not get the chance to tell you face to face" Annabella continued "I like you Casey. I like you a lot. I know I'm not your type, hell I've seen Jessie, but I wanted you to know how I felt. You know. Just cos." More silence, Casey could just about make out the outlines of 2 men up ahead of him "....when you do, make him suffer, Casey, make Caleb suffer" He could hear the tears in her voice.

The first shot was a direct hit, headshot, spattering brain matter all over the tunnel and the second guard, who fired wildly in the hope of hitting whoever it was that shot at them. Casey timed it just perfectly, waiting for the small flash of light on the bomb to illuminate the last guard from behind he shot him through the knee, the man screamed and retaliated with another shot, missing Casey entirely. Casey's second shot went through his chest, the guard twitched a couple of times before lying motionless on the floor, life extinguished.

"Bella" Casey said approaching the chair bomb contraption.  
"Casey? Oh my god! Casey"   
"Don't move! Don't fuckin move" She froze, "it's motion activated. Just stay still. Chuck's on his way"  
"Casey? Am I gonna die?" Tears now free falling down her cheeks, he noticed she had blood in her hair and down the side of her face.  
"No. I told you I'd look after you and keep you safe and I have every intention of following through with that" He knelt down in front of her "Did they hurt you?"  
"They hit me with something and I woke up here, my head is pounding"  
"Don't speak"

They heard quick footsteps followed by Chuck shouting "I heard gunshots, is everything ok?"  
Casey smirked "Myself and the package are fine"  
"Ha. Ha. Casey, oh, oh shit this is a big bomb"  
"You got this Chuck, you played years of video games that helped shape those girly little fingers so you could disarm bombs"  
"Thanks buddy, I think?"   
Chuck and Casey swapped places, it took Chuck just over 5 minutes to disarm the bomb, no one spoke. He messaged Beckman and Sarah to let them know they could bring Caleb in.

#

The bright lights of Vegas were nothing Sarah hadn't seen a million times but she feigned interest and pretended to ignore it when Caleb kept checking his phone.  
"First class all the way with me baby, eh?" He said sitting down at a roulette table "Pick a number chica, make it lucky" He said squeezing her ass. She giggled along and picked a red one. The ball span round and round and made a clunking sound as it settled.

“Winner,” The female croupier said causing everyone to cheer, including Sarah, who bent down and kissed Caleb’s cheek.  
“My baby picked a good one!” He exclaimed gathering his chips together. Sarah’s phone buzzed, she discreetly pulled it out of her bag.

Chuck: Now! Take him down! Casey said make it hurt!

Beckman: Go! Go! Go!

Sarah smirked and looked around her, knowing that the other operatives had also received a text from Beckman. She ran her hand across Caleb's shoulder and willed him to resist so she could use maximum force.

“You’re under arrest prick” She whispered, he shot round faster than she thought he could move and grabbed her throat, he stood up, squeezing tighter and tighter. Sarah kicked him between the legs and he loosened enough for her to punch him in the face, he took a lucky shot and landed it on her jaw, she made a small moaning noise and pulled her gun from her waistband.  
“Look around” She gestured with her head for him to actually look “You’re surrounded asshole”   
He looked around to see 4 other people pointing guns at him, including the croupier. A tactical team were approaching to take him in. Sarah turned her gun in her hand and hit him with it as hard as she could, knocking him to the floor and splitting his eyebrow open.  
“That’s from Casey,” She said, pulling her phone out and taking a picture. She took another picture as he was put in handcuffs, blood painted his face from his eyebrows.

Sarah: [image] [image]  
Sarah: He’s in custody. All ok there?

Chuck excitedly told Casey Curevo was in custody before replying  
Chuck: All good, get home safe <3

Sarah: I will Chuck

Casey lifted Annabella up, he had one arm under her legs and another around her back. All three of them were filthy from the state of the tunnels. They passed the cleanup crew on the way out and squinted as they climbed the steps and back into the shopping complex.

A paramedic approached them “We can take it from here Colonel” Casey looked at Annabella who was resting her head on his shoulder and replied  
“No. She doesn't leave my sight”  
The man simply nodded, knowing better than to argue with a Colonel, especially when that Colonel was Casey. Casey put her in the ambulance and sat next to her holding her hand. She hasn't spoken since they left the hospital, tears still rolling down her cheek occasionally.

“John” Ellie ran over to them once they were in the ER, Casey was carrying her again “Hey sweetie” She said to Annabella who smiled weakly “Bring her this way, we need to get that head looked at”  
Casey was pleased it was Ellie looking after her, at this point he didn't trust anyone else. Ellie sutured her head and gave her some pain relief, she was still covered in blood and dirty but at least she knew she had no permanent damage. Ellie left Casey and Annabella in the room and promised to let Chuck know where they were.   
Annabella was sat on the edge of the bed, Casey stood next to her.

“Bella?” He asked, putting her hair behind her ear, she looked up at him, watery eyes searching his “You ok?” She nodded, still looking up at him. He leant on the bed and reached for her hand, she gave it willingly “You don't correct me” He smiled “Why?”  
She gave him a watery smile, her head was hurting and she was embarrassed about her previous admission when she thought she was going to die. Plus she felt fairly traumatized by the whole situation “I like it when you call me Bella”  
“What about princess?” He quirked an eyebrow and she giggled, nodding “Sweetie?” More giggling and nodding “Punk?”   
“Hey!” He said, pushing him a little with her free hand.  
“So I can call you whatever I want huh?”   
She shrugged “If you’re so inclined Colonel”  
“How about mine?” She didn't have time to process what he had said, he bent forward cupping her face with his hands, he brushed his lips against hers, giving her time to pull away if she wanted too. Instead, her eyes fluttered closed and her whole body buzzed as he did it again. She grabbed the front of his black polo shirt and clung on tight.   
He pushed his mouth against hers, moving his lips slowly, he didn't want to hurt her, he gently ran his tongue along her lower lip seeking entry, she opened her mouth and a small moan escaped her lips. He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss.

The door opened, but neither of them heard it, Chuck walked in and stopped immediately, eyes wide  
“Oh right” He said flapping his arms a little “I’ll just, I’ll er, yeah, I’ll come back” He smiled walking out of the room, he closed the door and pulled out his phone.

Chuck: Casey’s currently kissing the package! :D

Sarah: About time! Don't call her a package Chuck, it's weird now

When Casey pulled back they were both breathing a little heavier than before.  
“What about Jessie?” She asked, her mouth still tasting of him.  
“Not interested. Besides, there’s this little Brit that’s caught my eye” He smiled, she hadn't seen him smile like that before, it was breathtaking, and yes, he was fully aware of her breath hitching  
“Well she sounds delightful, I must meet her” Annabella joked as she got off the bed. Taking the hand he held out to her.  
“C’mon” He was leading her towards the door “Let’s get you home”

Her heart felt full, his hand was large and safe and held her smaller one firmly like he had no intention of ever letting go. She felt safe. She looked up at him, watching him direct various people she assumed were government people. Using both of her hands she squeezed his a little and held it to her lips, gently kissing it. He looked at her briefly and winked.  
“His,” She said quietly smiling to herself.

THE END.


End file.
